From the Chautauqua (American Connection) company news update:
Company Update for April 25, 2003
Good afternoon. The situation at AMR has taken another unpredictable turn as the carriers CEO, Don Carty was forced to resign in the aftermath “bonus-gateâ€. As of now the pilots and fleet workers have reaccepted their concession packages but not the flight attendants. Once again the carriers CFO is in New York at the court house steps waiting for word to file C11.
In my opinion, regardless of whether the flight attendants re-approve their deal or not, I believe it would be in AMR’s best interests to file for court protection sooner rather than later. It appears that the current plan is simply designed to reduce their daily cash burn so that they can hold out until fall in hopes that United will liquidate. Certainly if United were to fail, then bankruptcy and further employee trauma could be avoided. But that is a very big gamble with the company’s dwindling cash reserves and, if wrong, will result in the need for even more dramatic concessions and furloughs than might otherwise be required should the company begin the reorganization process immediately. To be sure, bankruptcy is no panacea and should be avoided at all costs short of leaving the company is such a weak state that the risk of liquidation is greater than the likelihood of reorganization. A very difficult call to make and I am glad we are not in a position to have to worry about such things.
Regardless of which direction AMR follows, we must continue to stay focused on doing our jobs safely and reliably. Chautauqua has managed through many crisis’s in the past 18 months and we will mange through this uncertainty as well. We have a very good people, a very good product and very good economics which I hope will continue to make us an attractive partner to most large, net work carriers. I do not feel our AMR operation is in any significant danger, but rest assured we are monitoring the situation actively and will develop contingency plans as the situation unfolds and warrants.