AMR's American seeks bankruptcy financing -sources
Monday March 10, 2:10 PM EST
CHICAGO, March 10 (Reuters) - AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines has quietly begun talks on Wall Street seeking up to $2 billion in bankruptcy financing should a Chapter 11 filing become necessary, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.
"They're starting out with a very high, unreasonable request to raise $2 billion," said the source, who declined to be identified. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier is the world's largest airline, followed by UAL Corp.'s (UAL) United Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in December.
A spokesman for American declined to comment on the talks, which are taking place with a number of financial institutions. The airline is actively pursuing cost-cutting agreements with its labor unions as a way to avoid a bankruptcy filing.
Several sources said the talks are in the preliminary stages and would involve the usual range of lenders to large bankruptcy cases, including Citigroup ©, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), CIT Group (CIT) and perhaps Boeing Co. (BA) Citibank offers a credit card linked to American's frequent flyer program.
AMR posted a record $3.2 billion net loss in 2002 and has outlined a goal to cut $4 billion in annual costs to stay afloat. It has hired bankruptcy lawyers and a financial advisory firm, sources have told Reuters.
©2003 Reuters Limited.
http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp...9&date=20030310
Monday March 10, 2:10 PM EST
CHICAGO, March 10 (Reuters) - AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines has quietly begun talks on Wall Street seeking up to $2 billion in bankruptcy financing should a Chapter 11 filing become necessary, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.
"They're starting out with a very high, unreasonable request to raise $2 billion," said the source, who declined to be identified. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier is the world's largest airline, followed by UAL Corp.'s (UAL) United Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in December.
A spokesman for American declined to comment on the talks, which are taking place with a number of financial institutions. The airline is actively pursuing cost-cutting agreements with its labor unions as a way to avoid a bankruptcy filing.
Several sources said the talks are in the preliminary stages and would involve the usual range of lenders to large bankruptcy cases, including Citigroup ©, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), CIT Group (CIT) and perhaps Boeing Co. (BA) Citibank offers a credit card linked to American's frequent flyer program.
AMR posted a record $3.2 billion net loss in 2002 and has outlined a goal to cut $4 billion in annual costs to stay afloat. It has hired bankruptcy lawyers and a financial advisory firm, sources have told Reuters.
©2003 Reuters Limited.
http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp...9&date=20030310