Republican Congressional leadership intends to support relief for the airline industry, probably as part of the $75 billion war supplemental, the White House submitted yesterday.

As submitted, the supplemental contains no help for the airline industry, however, and House Appropriations Chair Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), pledging to move the supplemental through the House quickly and to keep it as close to the President's request as possible, vowed to "resist any efforts to add extraneous provisions."

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said yesterday he expects Congress to pass some aid for the aviation industry, probably as part of the supplemental.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), ranking member on House Transportation, said he may try to attach his airline relief bill to the supplemental "to ensure when the dust settles we still have an aviation industry." The bill does not give tax relief but does allow a draw-down of the fuel reserves, lets airlines go to the stabilization board for a federal loan guarantee to pay for fuel and mandates reimbursement for war-time assistance and federally mandated security measures such as hardening cockpit doors, for which the industry has yet to be fully reimbursed.