Business Notes AIRLINES

Travelers who plan to pass through Denver's Stapleton Airport any time soon should be prepared for an unusual encounter with ticket agents who come on like ambitious Dale Carnegie graduates. At Stapleton, where United and Continental are locked in one of the fiercest airline battles in the U.S., United is engaged in an all-out campaign to win friends and influence people to switch over from its rival's flights. In one United tactic, eager agents sidle up to unwary travelers as they pass through the terminal and lure them onto United flights with such promised incentives as earlier arrival times, better tasting food and superior service. Another strategy is to check computer listings for United customers who plan to change planes at the Denver hub for a Continental flight; those passengers are paged to the United counter and presented with the soft sell.

The politely arm-twisting United employees, whose campaign is limited so far to Denver's airport, wear green-and-white lapel pins bearing the acronym TORQUE, which stands for "Try Our Real Quality United Experience." But on the hidden backside of the pin is a more provocative symbol. It depicts a jet, similar to those in Continental's fleet, with a large screw embedded in its gold-painted tail.