Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

ATA Health?

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web
SWA paid $20 million for the 4 additional gates. ATA will only have one gate they are obligated for and the use of 3 additional city gates. This move as well as all the moves lately have been coordinated with the new investors.

The plan is for ATA to exit from bankruptcy in Jan 06, making a small profit and having a very good cash on hand position.

We shall see........
 
A couple of things to add:

I believe the initial furloughs in Jan. will be just under 60. Another 50 to 60 late spring or summer. We are at around 845 now. Begs the question, "If we're down to 30 airplanes, what are we going to do with all these pilots?"

A reliable source had an informal meeting with Denison and another CA that it's possible that we won't need the spring/summer furloughs. If we do, then that should be the last of them. There are approximately 140 FA furloughs coming soon as well. Hmmmm. Either there is some planned growth for late 2006 or 2007 or there's a big fat stupid lie out there.

Other rumors, inferences, are that we are returning to our "roots" of charter, particularly international charter.

Maitlin/Patterson is coming in, throwing a bunch of money around, trying to wrest any control of ATA by SWA by trading assets for debt and stock. These guys are pretty tough and haven't failed yet, however, I don't know of their expertise in airline managment. They have stated that they are in this for the long-haul (2,3,5 or 10m years?), but what's long haul?

I am stupified by the lost opportunity in ATA that has been, and continues to be, squandered.

It is what it is. Apple did the same thing 15-20 years ago. Maybe we can get it back.
 
Either there is some planned growth for late 2006 or 2007 or there's a big fat stupid lie out there.
Every time there was a furlough around the corner at AA, management would tell us that it was either the end of the the furloughs, or the furlough itself would be canceled. I'm not sure if there is some psychological advantage for management to keeep the pilots thinking positively, or if they themselves are trying to be optimistic. IMHO, there's a big fat stupid lie out there.
 
A reliable source had an informal meeting with Denison and another CA that it's possible that we won't need the spring/summer furloughs. If we do, then that should be the last of them.

At the current rate that ATA pilots are either resigning or taking voluntary furloughs we may not need to have another round of furloughs after January!

I wonder when the next re-alignment bid is coming out?
 
This might be the hubris that ends up unwinding the whole deal. It does, in fact, sound like a reorganization in sheep's clothing.

In a bankruptcy, you can't screw creditors over unequally, if you're going to screw them over, they have to get an equal screwing. Matilin, by limiting the bondholders to 2% of the new company, gives labor more (5%) than the secured creditors, all without a vote.

Although, does anyone think that the gates are really worth more than $20 million? $5 million a gate might be on the high end and I bet an auction process would end up with the same results. But then, how could anyone tell without an auction? By the same token, once you start auctioning stuff, you're back into the reorganization plan and treading pretty close to conversion to a Ch. 7 process.

This is going to be interesting. I bet Matlin gets their pee-pee slapped in court.
 
radarlove said:
This might be the hubris that ends up unwinding the whole deal. It does, in fact, sound like a reorganization in sheep's clothing.

In a bankruptcy, you can't screw creditors over unequally, if you're going to screw them over, they have to get an equal screwing. Matilin, by limiting the bondholders to 2% of the new company, gives labor more (5%) than the secured creditors, all without a vote.

Although, does anyone think that the gates are really worth more than $20 million? $5 million a gate might be on the high end and I bet an auction process would end up with the same results. But then, how could anyone tell without an auction? By the same token, once you start auctioning stuff, you're back into the reorganization plan and treading pretty close to conversion to a Ch. 7 process.

This is going to be interesting. I bet Matlin gets their pee-pee slapped in court.

Maybe, but I bet the basic deal still goes through. These folks that are whining now did nothing to help out pre-bankruptcy. The pilot group alone has given over $70M in the last 18 months, and we won't see any of that back any time soon.
 
HalinTexas said:

And almost a year ago today:

Note the we will be a larger airline than under the Airtran deal...

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ATA InterNews
> Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 12:20 PM
> To: *ATAH Employees
> Subject: Employee Letter from George Mikelsons
>
> Dear Fellow Employees,
>
> Today I am pleased to announce that we have accomplished a critical
> cornerstone of our reorganization - we selected the bid of Southwest
> Airlines. It covers the acquisition of certain of ATA's Midway Airport
> lease rights, and is subject to approvals by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
> the Southern District of Indiana and the City of Chicago. Our press
> release is attached.
>
> As you know we began this process by focusing on doing the best thing for
> our employees and our customers. We appreciate the efforts of AirTran
> Airways but the Southwest transactions are the best possible outcome for
> ATA.
>
> There are many things about this selection that made it much more
> attractive than any other bids, and the best possible solution for ATA.
> Our alliance with Southwest Airlines, the airline that carries more
> domestic U.S. passengers than any other carrier, includes:
> * Keeping eight gates at Chicago Midway, in addition to our expanding
> presence in Indianapolis
> * Maintaining more planes and employees than we would be able to do
> under other proposals, thus keeping ATA a larger airline
> * Receiving $117 million from Southwest including $40 million to
> transfer lease rights to six gates and a maintenance hangar at Midway, $47
> million in financing and an investment of $30 million into ATA once we
> emerge from Chapter 11, representing 27.5% of equity in a reorganized ATA
> * Launching a code share alliance in early February - the first
> significant one for both airlines - that allows each airline to transfer
> passengers to the other airline on a single ticket
> * Aligning ATA with the strongest airline in the industry and one that
> I personally admire above all others
>
> Another significance of our deal is the rapid speed at which we achieved
> it. I am proud that we were able to do this in less than eight weeks,
> thanks to our attorneys Steve Claffey, Jim Carr and their colleagues at
> Indy's Baker and Daniels law firm.
>
> As we begin the transfer of our lease rights for six gates to Southwest
> Airlines, we will continue business as usual. We intend to stand by our
> customer commitments, honoring tickets, upholding its full flight
> schedule, in-flight services and frequent flyer reward programs, as we
> have continued to do during our reorganization.
>
> While we expect to reduce our fleet by about 20 percent, as we scale back
> in Chicago, we will remain a larger airline than we would have been under
> the AirTran Airways competing bid. We will continue with a significant
> presence at Midway with the retention of eight gates for U.S. domestic and
> international flights. We also plan to continue our expansion in the Indy
> market, continue to serve the west coast to Hawaii market, as well as
> operate military and commercial charter flights. Southwest Airlines has
> also committed to priority interviews for ATA employees affected by our
> fleet reductions.
>
> We are excited about our alliance with Southwest Airlines and the healthy
> growth that this means for ATA's future. I'm sure you will agree with me
> when I say that Southwest is the premier low cost carrier in the world and
> it will be a distinct privilege to work with Southwest going forward. We
> expect to share many more details of our exciting code share agreement and
> the full breadth of our reorganization plan with you in the near future.
>
> Since Southwest's bid was just accepted last night, we are finishing up
> all of the materials. We will be posting Q&As on EWS later today. We also
> will continue to post regular updates on the special restructuring section
> on EWS, which will replace the InfoLine updates.
>
> Thanks for your continued patience and commitment to ATA and our customers
> during these changing times. With your help and our alliance with
> Southwest, we will become a stronger, more competitive airline with a
> bright future ahead of us.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> GEORGE MIKELSONS
> Chairman & CEO
>
>
>
> <<ata_selects_swa.pdf>>
 
Basically anything an executive says, just think the exact opposite and that's what will happen.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top