Really? What about high lease rates on older aircraft like MD-80s? What about debt that secures older collateral like other MD-80s and older 757s and 762s and early 763s? A Ch 11 filing would permit AA to negotiate reductions in that debt or walk away from some of those liabilities (if it gave up the nearly worthless collateral).
Upon your return here a while back (after some years of no-posts), you asserted to eolesen that AA did not reduce its lease rates or other liabilities in its 2003 out of court restructuring as successfully as DL and NW did in their Ch 11 proceedings. Of course, a review of the financial statements from before and after the 2003 restructuring shows that AA did reduce its lease expenses and debt. Now, of course, some of those airplanes are worth a whole lot less (in large part because of their fuel burn plus the eight additional years of use), so those expenses could come down.
A bankruptcy would probably involve labor cost reductions plus some fleet expense reductions, and perhaps some other savings.
