Reuters: Bankruptcy News: Court allows AMR to keep reins on bankruptcy through Dec

Reuters: Bankruptcy News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Court allows AMR to keep reins on bankruptcy through Dec Jul 19th 2012, 15:15 Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:15am EDT * Judge gives airline extension in proposing own exit plan * Ruling doesn't prohibit a consensual merger in bankruptcy By Nick Brown NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters) - American Airlines' bankrupt parent AMR Corp won court approval on Thursday to extend through Dec. 28 its exclusive right to present a plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Judge Sean Lane granted the request, which was supported by AMR Corp's creditors' committee, at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The current exclusivity period was to have run out in September. AMR went bankrupt in November, citing an untenable labor cost structure. The extension, which blocks creditors from pushing their own proposals on how AMR should restructure its debt, comes amid efforts by US Airways Group to merge with AMR. The American Air parent has said it would prefer to present its own plan to emerge from bankruptcy independently, then consider a possible tie up. Extending the exclusivity period does not necessarily kill the prospect of a merger in bankruptcy. At the behest of its creditors, AMR is considering merger partners as part of its restructuring, and the sides could still negotiate a consensual merger deal during bankruptcy. US Airways is considered the leading contender for a merger, but a source has told Reuters that AMR is also speaking with other airlines. US Airways recently acquired a piece of AMR debt, making it a creditor and allowing it to be heard at the bankruptcy hearings. In court papers earlier this month, US Airways said it supported the extension of AMR's exclusivity period. A lawyer for US Airways tried to address the court at Thursday's hearing, but Judge Lane said he did not want to be distracted by merger talk. "I know [US Airways is] a creditor, but there are a lot of creditors in the case," Lane said. "I don't want to get sidetracked on that particular issue this morning." The case is In re AMR Corp et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-15463. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions