Another Merger Update, Plus News & Notes For Thursday, August 29th, 2013
The bankruptcy judge for American Airlines decided not to rule today on whether he would confirm the bankruptcy plan even with the DOJ suit still pending. He did say he’s leaning towards it. I can’t say I see a ton of benefit to the judge confirming it since it automatically reverts back to his control if the merger is ultimately defeated by DOJ. But, I don’t consider myself to be properly informed on this part of BK law so I’ll try to do some reading to better understand the pieces in play here.
It could be that with a confirmation of exit from bankruptcy that the airlines are more willing to negotiate with DOJ since they would in theory be the last hurdle. That’s a common strategy in my day job. We’d prefer to have as many obstacles removed before approaching the final pieces of a deal that may take significant time or compromise, as we’d rather not invest that time if there are still other significant impediments to “ink on paper”.
I wrote this morning my thoughts on the bickering back and forth between the airlines and DOJ. Definitely popcorn-worthy. Interestingly, Terry notes in the Dallas News update above that there’s a private antitrust lawsuit that’s been filed against American and US Airways. And, the lawyers representing that case are fully prepared to go to court in November. Hard to believe that two lawyers and their supporting offices can go to trial 3+ months earlier than DOJ, huh?
Maybe you hadn’t heard, but Berlin has a brand spanking new airport that should help deal with all their congestion issues at the existing Tegal airport. Yeah, the reason you haven’t heard is because there’s a bit of a delay in the opening date. Again. The delay is now approaching 2 years and just shy of 2 Billion Euros in cost overruns. 2 Billion might not seem like much, but it kinda is when the whole project was only supposed to cost 2.4 Billion. Just sayin’.
Somehow, I missed this post a couple weeks ago from Rapid Travel Chai on other very resourceful places you can use Global Entry. If you haven’t applied for Global Entry and plan any reasonable amount of travel, why not?
Do you Ascend with Delta? The marketing folks over there are working overtime to break new ground on names for the combination of early boarding and wifi. Wandering Aramean points out the re-bundling of airline fees, you know, after they unbundled. Kind of.
Related articles
- Dissecting The AA/US Response TO DOJ On Trial Scheduling
- The First Words From American/US Airways On The DOJ Lawsuit
- American Airlines & US Airways File Motion For Speedy-ish Trial; Poking Belly Of Bear?
- American Airlines Bankruptcy Judge Neglects To Rule On AMR Exit Plan
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