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Many keep flying American Airlines despite bankruptcy fears
By ANGELA K. BROWN
The Associated Press
3/16/03 2:09 PM
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Gospel singer Beverly Crawford is in the air three or four times a week, traveling to perform in California, New York and just about everywhere in between.
She and her husband, Todd, prefer American Airlines because they can fly directly to most of the concert cities, and they like the expanded leg room and perks that go with being frequent flyers.
But they plan to change airlines if American goes bankrupt.
"That's the scary thing -- you don't know," Todd Crawford, his wife's manager, said this weekend at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. "They might not offer the same routes or as many flights, or prices may go up. It would be a bad situation."
Other travelers expressed similar concerns about American, which is losing $5 million a day.
Donald J. Carty, American's chairman and chief executive, has stressed that the company's focus remains on avoiding bankruptcy.
"We still have the opportunity to fix our structural problems and make ourselves into a formidable competitor," Carty said in a recorded hot line message to employees late last week.
The world's largest airline is already negotiating with pilots and is to start official meetings Monday with flight attendants and ground workers.
The airline has proposed $660 million in concessions from the Allied Pilots Association, $620 million from the Transport Workers Union and $340 million from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Those proposals are part of American's plan to slash annual costs by $4 billion.
The new bargaining talks signal hope for American, which traditionally has had a strained relationship with its five unions, including two for American Eagle.
"At this point, it's a whole new game. The survival of the carrier is at stake," said George Price, the flight attendants union spokesman.
The Dallas Morning News reported in its Saturday editions that officials at Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., the airline's parent company, hired well-known bankruptcy attorney Harvey Miller. AMR declined to comment.
Miller has been involved in the nation's biggest Chapter 11 cases since the late 1970s, including Continental Airlines, Texaco, Bethlehem Steel and Braniff International.
Miller formerly worked at the New York law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He now is a managing director at the investment banking firm Greenhill & Co.
"Everybody in the bankruptcy bar knows Harvey," David W. Dykhouse, an attorney with the New York firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, told The Associated Press. "He was perhaps the most pre-eminent bankruptcy lawyer for several decades."
Miller worked with American two years ago as it tried to acquire Trans World Airlines. The lawyer and his associates advised TWA to go into bankruptcy, which made it a more attractive purchase by freeing any buyer from its contract liabilities.
The hiring of Miller signals that American is seriously considering filing Chapter 11 as an option, said Anthony Sabino, associate law professor at St. John's University.
"It would be a last act of desperation," Sabino told The AP. "If there is an airline out there that can avoid bankruptcy, I think American is well-suited."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This really does NOT look good!!!! and I am soooo mad at Mr. Miller at rushing TWA to go bankrupt!!!!!
grrrr.He really makes me mad!!! If only TWA was around a little longer......
By ANGELA K. BROWN
The Associated Press
3/16/03 2:09 PM
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Gospel singer Beverly Crawford is in the air three or four times a week, traveling to perform in California, New York and just about everywhere in between.
She and her husband, Todd, prefer American Airlines because they can fly directly to most of the concert cities, and they like the expanded leg room and perks that go with being frequent flyers.
But they plan to change airlines if American goes bankrupt.
"That's the scary thing -- you don't know," Todd Crawford, his wife's manager, said this weekend at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. "They might not offer the same routes or as many flights, or prices may go up. It would be a bad situation."
Other travelers expressed similar concerns about American, which is losing $5 million a day.
Donald J. Carty, American's chairman and chief executive, has stressed that the company's focus remains on avoiding bankruptcy.
"We still have the opportunity to fix our structural problems and make ourselves into a formidable competitor," Carty said in a recorded hot line message to employees late last week.
The world's largest airline is already negotiating with pilots and is to start official meetings Monday with flight attendants and ground workers.
The airline has proposed $660 million in concessions from the Allied Pilots Association, $620 million from the Transport Workers Union and $340 million from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Those proposals are part of American's plan to slash annual costs by $4 billion.
The new bargaining talks signal hope for American, which traditionally has had a strained relationship with its five unions, including two for American Eagle.
"At this point, it's a whole new game. The survival of the carrier is at stake," said George Price, the flight attendants union spokesman.
The Dallas Morning News reported in its Saturday editions that officials at Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., the airline's parent company, hired well-known bankruptcy attorney Harvey Miller. AMR declined to comment.
Miller has been involved in the nation's biggest Chapter 11 cases since the late 1970s, including Continental Airlines, Texaco, Bethlehem Steel and Braniff International.
Miller formerly worked at the New York law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He now is a managing director at the investment banking firm Greenhill & Co.
"Everybody in the bankruptcy bar knows Harvey," David W. Dykhouse, an attorney with the New York firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, told The Associated Press. "He was perhaps the most pre-eminent bankruptcy lawyer for several decades."
Miller worked with American two years ago as it tried to acquire Trans World Airlines. The lawyer and his associates advised TWA to go into bankruptcy, which made it a more attractive purchase by freeing any buyer from its contract liabilities.
The hiring of Miller signals that American is seriously considering filing Chapter 11 as an option, said Anthony Sabino, associate law professor at St. John's University.
"It would be a last act of desperation," Sabino told The AP. "If there is an airline out there that can avoid bankruptcy, I think American is well-suited."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This really does NOT look good!!!! and I am soooo mad at Mr. Miller at rushing TWA to go bankrupt!!!!!
grrrr.He really makes me mad!!! If only TWA was around a little longer......
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