United may exit BK early

kiowa

Advanced
Aug 27, 2002
146
0
United considers early exit from bankruptcy-report
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2003 12:37 AM
- Reuters U.S. Company News

NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) - UAL Corp. (UALAQ) , the parent company of United Airlines, is weighing whether to emerge from bankruptcy months ahead of schedule and as early as this fall, its chief financial officer told the Wall Street Journal.

The CFO, Jake Brace, was quoted in the Journal as saying the company expected to achieve April and May financial goals tied to the bankruptcy financing package.

We see no impediment to an early exit, Brace told the Journal in a telephone interview. But we want to come out a completely fixed company, not a partially fixed company.

He said the airline was weighing the pros and cons of emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, the Journal reported.

United and parent UAL Corp. in December filed the largest ever U.S. airline bankruptcy, hurt by a drop-off in demand following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and economic weakness that also led to cutbacks in business travel.

At the end of April, a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a $2.56 billion annual concession package from labor unions, a development which Brace said at the time was a huge step toward emerging from bankruptcy.