Unions will play large role in UAL creditors' committee.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Melita Marie Garza

CHICAGO _ United Airlines, whose internecine worker-management strife contributed to its downfall, now finds that its beleaguered unions will play a significant role in shaping the way the company will reinvent itself.

On Friday, the Association of Flight Attendants, the Air Lines Pilots Association, and the International Association of Machinists were among thirteen entities named to the unsecured creditors' committee for UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines.

Michael Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, an airline consulting company in Evergreen, Colo., was startled by the news. "The creditors' committee is like a family feud. They all hate each other. And now the unions are on that same committee?" asked Boyd, who frequently has …