American Airlines And US Airways File Motion To Set Trial For Nov. 12, 2013

[JFK Fleet Service]

What has Carl Icahn been up to lately?

He's about to find out his "activist shareholder" bully routine won't work with Apple...

 

[eolesen]

Monetarily I agree with you they can afford it, but time is the asset they don't possess in great abundance. Will AA be granted another extention for exclusive rights to file a plan? The vulture capitalist are watching to be sure.

Nope. Congress would have to act to change the law. The 2005 changes to the law no longer permit a judge to have discretion beyond 20 months, and that can only happen if there was a POR out for vote by the time the 18 months expired.

The 2005 law has some clear flaws in it -- taking away discretion from the judge is one of them.

 

[WorldTraveler]

if i were an aa employee if the merger fails and they continue in bankruptcy just how long will the creditors keep their patience before they say enough is enough want the full pay i hope it would not get to that point but since nov 2011 and approaching 22 months in ch11 and if the merger fails then can the creditors demand aa be broken up so they would get their returns that would be a concern if i were an aa employee i hope im wrong on that but i think of eastern pan an and twa as examples as welll as usairways

The creditors are holding out for the merger because Parker offered the best terms of recovery compared to any other option.

There is no risk of breakup for AA because they are a viable, operating company and have more than enough money in the bank to keep operating. There are few scenarios where AA creditors would get as much for a broken up company as they could get if it continued to operate.

The real risk for AA is that competitors can continue to expand into key AA markets and customers don't really know what the future holds so they (esp. corporate customers) will go with what looks the most certain - and that may be with a competitor.

 

[AANOTOK]

So the Judge says she will be extremely busy early next year!

http://aviationblog....d-january.html/

...and this

http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2013/08/doj-tells-bankruptcy-judge-it-takes-no-position-on-confirming-americans-restructuring-plan.html

 

[WorldTraveler]

The letter notes that AA and US asked for a meeting with the DOJ about DOJ concerns about the merger in a letter on May 28, 2013 and the meeting occurred on Aug 6, one week prior to when the DOJ filed suit. The DOJ says the Aug 6 date was requested by the airlines but does not say that they did not seek or did not agree to any earlier dates.

This filing does show that there were known concerns expressed to AA and US months ago.

The DOJ also notes that the trial timeline they are requesting for AA-US is similar to the timeline for the AT&T/T-mobile merger suit.

 

[AirwAr]

Nope. Congress would have to act to change the law. The 2005 changes to the law no longer permit a judge to have discretion beyond 20 months, and that can only happen if there was a POR out for vote by the time the 18 months expired.

The 2005 law has some clear flaws in it -- taking away discretion from the judge is one of them.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/amr-says-bankruptcy-court-ok-210457033.html

"Lawyers for American Airlines said Friday that the company's plan to merge with US Airways and exit bankruptcy is sound and shouldn't be delayed by a government lawsuit against the merger."

I don't quite get this. Is AA saying that they should be allowed to exit bankruptcy now based on the merger plan? If the merger fails to win DOJ approval, then AA just moves to the Stand-alone plan without needing the judge's or creditor approval?

 

[Thomas Paine]

Nope. Congress would have to act to change the law. The 2005 changes to the law no longer permit a judge to have discretion beyond 20 months, and that can only happen if there was a POR out for vote by the time the 18 months expired.

The 2005 law has some clear flaws in it -- taking away discretion from the judge is one of them.

Who says its a flaw?

 

[Thomas Paine]

The creditors are holding out for the merger because Parker offered the best terms of recovery compared to any other option.

In other words he told them what they wanted to hear, not what he could deliver.

 

[AANOTOK]

...and this

http://blogs.star-te...uring-plan.html

...and more

http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/08/lawmakers-criticize-merger-lawsuit-against-american-airlines-and-us-airways.html/

 

[Barfbag]

What has Carl Icahn been up to lately?

There's no equity in the airline business. Everything is leveraged.

Bad business, bad career choice..

Uncle Carl won't be barking up our tree anytime soon.

 

[robbedagain]

www.justplanenews.com has a very interesting article pertaining to the airlines' nov trial and the govt wanting feb 2014 but accrding to the article the judge's schedule may favor the airlines.... and the doj is constraint already with the on going sequestration also what i found interesting was that it would be more difficult for aa and the ch11 beyond late this yr or early next yr i believe it was either the dallas morning news or the wall street journal but nonetheless i found it on justplanenews.com with the links

 

[AANOTOK]

That's all posted in links I provided earlier in this topic...

 

[robbedagain]

ok thanks i just saw it this morning just waiting for the response from wt ya know!

 

[AANOTOK]

WT, E, and FWAAA...

 

[WorldTraveler]

just because the DOJ is asking for six months to trial doesn't mean they have a weak case or won't be ready to go to trial earlier if the judge tells them to.

The DOJ is well aware of the dates of the merger agreement and of the impact to AA's BK but and will try to use every lever to increase the chances for a settlement but that doesn't mean they can't succeed at getting one even if they go to trial in 90 days.

I honestly think it will not be 180 days but somewhere less. Since Christmas and New Years throw a wrench in everything, the trial will either start by early December or not until mid-January. Even if the DOJ succeeds at pushing the trial back by a few weeks, they put more pressure on AA/US.