Full articke on Mesaba - judge's ruling delayed

[Buck_Boley]

AP
Judge's Ruling on Mesaba Delayed
Thursday October 12, 5:34 pm ET
By Joshua Freed, AP Business Writer Judge Delays Ruling on Mesaba Request to Toss Labor Contracts

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Mesaba Aviation Inc. and its unions will get some more time to negotiate after a bankruptcy judge on Thursday delayed ruling on whether the feeder for Northwest Airlines Corp. can reject its union contracts.
Mesaba had said it would impose new terms on pilots, flight attendants and mechanics on Sunday unless they made a pay-cut deal. Judge Gregory Kishel was to rule Thursday on whether Mesaba could do that -- he even waved a draft copy of the ruling from the bench. But at the union's request, he said he would delay ruling until Monday.
The delay has the effect of leveling the playing field between the airline and the unions. If Kishel had ruled for the airline, Mesaba could have negotiated knowing it would get what it wanted on Sunday anyway. If the unions had won they could have bargained knowing the airline had no power to impose new terms.
A few clues emerged about the Sunday deadline that Mesaba has set. Mesaba, a unit of MAIR Holdings Inc., so far has offered scant details about why it wanted to impose new terms by then, except to say that it would begin spending the cash it would need for an orderly liquidation after that.
Tim Robinson, an attorney for Mesaba's creditors, referred in court to a letter he wrote last month saying he would take some unspecified action if there wasn't a labor deal by Sunday. None of the attorneys said what the creditors intended to do.
Creditors in a bankruptcy can ask a judge to liquidate the company rather than reorganize it if they think that would be best for the creditors. It wasn't clear whether that was the action Mesaba's creditors planned.
After the hearing, Robinson declined to say what was in that letter. Referring to the airline and the unions, he said, "Effectively, we are one year into this case, and we have essentially two parties at the table, both of whom are playing with our money."
Creditors "have reached the point ... that it can't go on without any end in sight," he added.
In any case, Kishel told Robinson that creditors couldn't make any moves until after he rules on Monday.

 

[mynameisjim]

In a liquidation, what would Mesaba sell? Some computers and office equipment? Do they own any large assets?

 

[Workin'Stiff]

And various assorted ground equipment...

 

[Northern Lights]

A review of the past year...

I think that this pretty much sums up what has been happening the past 12 months at XJ http://www.glumbert.com/media/tonguetwister:smash:

 

[Buck_Boley]

OK, a few things from that article. First off, the lawyer for the creditors says:

"Effectively, we are one year into this case, and we have essentially two parties at the table, both of whom are playing with our money."

No, WE are not playing with YOUR money. The money we made was siphoned
off to MAIR. They have now taken 122.5 million dollars over the last 3 years
and it is sitting in Carl Pohlad's bank somewhere collecting interest. The
creditors need to talk to MAIR because the company has been bled dry.
Good luck getting it out of his hands, too. I feel bad for all creditors - they
are only asking for what they have coming to them and MAIR basically
stole their money. Don't put the unions and the employees in with them
and say we are playing with their money because we aren't.

Secondly, I thought it was a very wise move by the union to have the
judge delay his decision until Monday. This way both sides will be committed
to bargain, rather than having all the cards on their side of the table. It would have been devastating to the union if the judge would have
ruled on the company's behalf.

Hopefully, something gets done very, very soon. We are now in the 11th hour.

 

[Terry Hunter]

Hopefully, something gets done very, very soon. We are now in the 11th hour.

Patience grasshopper; I believe someone else posted it correctly by saying that XJ mgmt gets what they want by wearing the pilot group down over time. It may not be the 11th hour; it certainly doesn't even seem close. Acting out of urgency will most likely cause for results that will be regrettable for years.

 

[XJohXJ]

The creditors are getting antsy because Mesaba (NOT MAIR) still has a small amount of cash, whatever it is, be it 2 million or 10 million, or somewhere in between. That cash is an assett. If they can force a liquidation, then they can get a percentage of that cash paid toward the debt XJ owes them. And for all of those folks still employed, bear in mind: If XJ liquidates, then to some degree to be determined by lawyers and judges, your paychecks and owed monies, such as vacation pay, will also be just another claim against the company, just like the guy who sells them Pepsi. Now, I've heard that they try to get the employees paid to the maximum extent. Vacation pay is pretty much up in the air though. Anyway, the creditors are antsy, because they'd rather liquidate with a few million in the bank rather than a few pennies.

 

[Buck_Boley]

The thing is, MAIR has millions and millions of dollars and this should not even
be a factor.

I feel bad for all the creditors that MAIR owes money to, that's for sure.
How would YOU like to be a creditor for Mesaba/MAIR, say have your own small business and know that Carl Pohlad, Paul Foley and their ilk have it all
tucked away in their account and are living posh lifestyles while you don't
know if your business is even going to be able to stay afloat or just
barely get by.

I hope that they eventually get their entire amount back plus punitive
damages and court costs paid for, too. They deserve it.

 

[GidgetDog]

Northern Lights - I love ya, Man! Way too funny.

 

[drift diamond]

XJ,

Funny, you sight Pepsi as the example of monies owed, while bearing in mind Bob Pohlad controls the second largest botteling division of Pepsico. Coincidence NWA retains all Pepsi products fort thier inflight? Coincidence this family owns a majority stake in XJ? Coincidence the DIP has its hands in both NWA & MSA? Coincidence most XJ board members have close ties to NWA? Coincidence P. Grieve (former MAC pres., gotta love that conferance center in the MSP terminal) retains his position with the BOD of XJ? Coincidence Steenland is a former BOD member at XJ? Too many coincidences to let this ship sink my fellow theorists. Try to remember (as Tom W. realized long, long ago); their ALL in eachothers pockets! The Twins WILL get a new stadium. USBankcorp WILL see (continued) masive revenue gains. Pepsico will be the #1 bottler soon. Father Forbes (2.8 billion), will see that his empire survives, including Mesaba .... or ... we'll see Monday?