The Upcoming Week In Bk Court

[Air conditioned]

As U enters its second week of bankruptcy court, what sort of things should we see happen this week? Is there a certain order of things that need to be handled within a certain time period?
Just curious as to what people predict.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Air conditioned,

There's nothing on the judges calendar till Thursday - in reference to U, anyway.

His calendar is here.

Somebody else will have to tell us what all the stuff there means.

Jim

 

[BoeingBoy]

Looking further into the future....

Next date on Mitchell's calendar so far is Oct 4 - final pre-trial conference - U Group, et al vs Phillip Morris Capital Corp.

Jim

 

[mwereplanes]

Air conditioned,

There's nothing on the judges calendar till Thursday - in reference to U, anyway.

His calendar is here.

Somebody else will have to tell us what all the stuff there means.

Jim

[post="182199"][/post]​

Don't worry Jim, ALPA will fill us in. Just like they have since we filed.

mr

 

[jimntx]

There won't be a lot of activity at first. US Airways is just one of many bankruptcies filed in this court. Size of bankruptcy does not necessarily give precedence. The creditors committee must be formed. Negotiations with them have to occur. There are a lot of unknowns at this point.

This was not a pre-packaged deal where everyone--company and creditors alike--is on board and in agreement with the way things are to be worked out financially--despite what some company flag wavers may tell you. It would have been made public in the initial filing when a BK is pre-packaged. The filings would say that "this is a pro forma exercise that only needs the court's stamp of approval." That has not happened here.

The company must also make some show of continuing negotiations with the unions--if only for the PR value. It's difficult to say that negotiations have failed and an 1113 is necessary if you haven't even met with the unions.

 

[BoeingBoy]

jimntx,

One thing that caught my eye is the dates for the omnibus hearings - scheduled thru May 2005. I suppose that some of that is sorta "in case", but my feeble brain says that someone must at least think that there's a possibility the case will go that long.

Seems to me that something will happen quickly - either liquidation or court imposed "savings" that are enough to stem the cash drain. As I understand it, the only quick fix is the 1113E order for paycuts, meaning that they'd have to be pretty massive to stop the cash drain.

Jim

 

[jimntx]

Remember that the Federal courts are just as backlogged as the state courts; so, you have to reserve spots on the judge's docket well in advance. Then, as a given court date approaches, if you or your creditors are not ready to move at that point, the court date is re-scheduled or postponed.

The current dates for the omnibus meetings are "best case" place holders on the court's calendar. It's kind of like those people who book the same trip on multiple airlines just to make sure they have a seat somewhere.

 

[USlurker]

Remember that the Federal courts are just as backlogged as the state courts

This may be true in some places, but in the Eastern District of Virgina, cases move forward at a suprising pace. It is known as the "Rocket Docket" to those who practice here. I don't do bankruptcy, so I can't offer any other information about the dates, but the huge backlog common elsewhere is not the case here.

 

[jimntx]

jimntx,

Seems to me that something will happen quickly - either liquidation or court imposed "savings" that are enough to stem the cash drain. As I understand it, the only quick fix is the 1113E order for paycuts, meaning that they'd have to be pretty massive to stop the cash drain.

Jim

[post="182303"][/post]​

Another thing occurred to me...If the burn rate for cash reaches the predicted rate of $3mil/day, there is no way that things would drag out that long. There's 252 days between now and the end of May, 2005. At $3mil/day, there's not enough unencumbered cash to make it that far even if the company is allowed to spend every dime of the ATSB "cushion" money.

I don't think employee pay concessions will reduce that burn rate substantially and benefit cuts certainly won't. (I don't think the pension payments were included in the daily cash burn rate.) Reducing the pay rates will not stop suppliers--especially ones who got burned last time--from demanding COD.

I agree that something will happen soon--and I'm not ruling out the possibility of an outside investor stepping forward. If outside investment and holiday bookings do not materialize, maybe before the end of the year. Anything else leaves the ATSB with a huge exposure that would be hard to explain to Congress. The more likely it becomes that assets can be obtained at fire sale prices in a liquidation, the less value those assets have as collateral for the loans.

To USLurker: I was not aware of the Rocket Docket reputation. However, there are a number of people who post on this board who will say that one of UAIR's main problems today is that they emerged from BK too quickly the first time. Being on the Rocket Docket may not be a good thing in this case.

 

[Fly]

Never underestimate the man from the UK. I bet it can't be too hard to convert US planes to Virgin planes. Also takes care of the gazillion people to train...no need, they already have trained employees in you people. If he goes and takes you...it will probably be the end of my job...sniff. Oh well, brighter pastures for me. (my weird feeling is this US deal is not over by a long shot)