PRATTVILLE, Ala. - The two executives trying to lead US Airways to profitability said Wednesday more cost-cutting is necessary, but selling company assets is not an option they want to pursue.

"If we sell those assets, we have no future," new president Bruce Lakefield said after an annual shareholders' meeting at a central Alabama hotel and golf resort.

US Airways has dwindled dramatically in recent years, from 46,000 employees before the 2001 terror attacks, to 28,000. It has gone through a bankruptcy restructuring and cut costs by nearly $2 billion, including about $1 billion in concessions from workers. In January, Bronner acknowledged the company had retained Morgan Stanley to explore possible asset sales, such as its shuttles serving Boston, New York and Washington.

But on Wednesday, without discussing specifics, Bronner and Lakefield said they do not want to raise cash by selling assets.

Lakefield, a retired Wall Street investment banker, became president a month ago at the request of chairman David Bronner, chief executive of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, which is the airline's largest investor.

At the shareholders' meeting, Lakefield and Bronner talked optimistically about cutting costs, keeping a full schedule of flights during the critical summer season, and eventually turning around the airline's finances. Arlington, Va.-based US Airways Group Inc. lost $177 million in the first three months of 2004.

The shareholders' brief meeting went according to script because the Retirement Systems owns 38 percent of the company's shares and controls 72 percent of the voting shares.

For Bronner, it was a chance to introduce the new leadership. In the last month, Lakefield replaced David Siegel as president and Dave Davis succeeded Neal Cohen as chief financial officer.

Bill Pollock, president of the Air Lines Pilots Association and a US Airways board member, said Lakefield's month as president had been encouraging.

But he said the airline's next round of cost cutting shouldn't be focused on one group. "The pilots shouldn't be expected to carry this load," he said.

Bronner and Lakefield talked repeatedly about having a cooperative relationship with labor, but Bronner said his priority must be the pension fund and its $240 million investment in US Airways.

US Airways now operates hubs at the airports in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Facing growing competition from discount carriers, the nation's seventh largest airline has cut fares and started emphasizing more point-to-point flights like Southwest rather than the traditional hub-and-spoke model of major airlines.

Under the plan, Pittsburgh would be a "focus city" with fewer flights but would remain its airport's largest carrier. Philadelphia would remain a hub for its trans-Atlantic flights.