Oct 06 3:25 PM US/Eastern

The parent of United Airlines said it has secured a three billion dollar loan package that clears a hurdle to its plans to emerge from bankruptcy protection by February.

The financing will be used to repay debts incurred during United`s three years in bankruptcy protection and to ensure strong cash balances to conduct post-reorganization operations, UAL Corporation said.

``United is a far different company coming out of bankruptcy than it was going in,`` Jake Brace, United executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement.

``Our demonstrated ability to restructure resulted in four major banks competing vigorously to provide exit financing, and today`s agreement reflects the market`s confidence in United.``

JP Morgan and Citigroup will syndicate the six-year loan to a consortium of financial institutions.

``United has highly attractive assets and a tested, successful management team,`` James Lee, vice chairman of JP Morgan Chase, said. ``The company has proven its ability to navigate through difficult and volatile circumstances while continuing to improve its operations and financial performance.``

The loan`s interest rate, which United categorized as ``attractive,`` is LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) plus 450 basis points and has minimal amortization. UAL will submit the commitment letter to the US Bankruptcy Court for approval on Friday.