I'm not surprised that they filed, but I'm surprised that they were the first of several carriers on Titanic Watch that filed (others being Frontier, Midwest, Skybus, Mesa, and Virgin America).
It will be interesting to see what happens in Hawaii... Aloha vs. Mesa goes to trial next month, and based on the size of the award to Hawaiian, the lawsuit might wind up being one of AQ's largest assets. Hawaiian got $80M as a starting point, and it's possible AQ's damages might wind up being easier to prove with the bankruptcy filing....
UA was holding a minority stake in AQ, but I never saw any disclosure on how much of a stake it was. Gordon Bethune is Chairman of Aloha, and former AirCal president David Banmiller has been CEO of Aloha for many years.
So... will Gordon's ties with CO, Banmiller's ties with AA, or United's ownership stake play any role in what happens?
Or will the merger with Hawaiian (as was proposed years ago) happen, or maybe even more bizzare, will Mesa try to offer up a reorganization plan (not that they have the money or credit to do so, but they've got to be worried about a multi-million dollar judgement....)?