Philip Baggaley
![Philip Baggaley](/assets/img/authors/unknown.jpg)
Philip Baggaley
appears chance drive fairly good key takes
If you look at each one of these key requirements, in isolation, it appears to be a fairly good chance it will happen. But it only takes any one of them to fail, and it could drive American into bankruptcy.
break entirely grace heard however period possible
I think it's entirely possible they'll use the grace period (on the bonds) if they haven't heard from the ATSB by Monday. However (the end of the grace period on) Dec. 16 may be more of a make or break deadline.
added bankruptcy financial hasten likely occur pressure within
The added financial pressure may hasten an already likely bankruptcy filing, which will probably occur within weeks.
extend flight fly found hand labor number types work
Maintenance work is often outsourced, especially at the low-cost carriers, ... I think it weakens labor's hand generally, but I wouldn't extend this to all other types of labor negotiations. American found out a number of years ago they couldn't fly through a flight attendant strike.
extend flight fly found hand labor number types work
Maintenance work is often outsourced, especially at the low-cost carriers. I think it weakens labor's hand generally, but I wouldn't extend this to all other types of labor negotiations. American found out a number of years ago they couldn't fly through a flight attendant strike.
bargaining contract employee encourage future groups improve join outcome position unions
In addition, such an outcome would encourage other employee groups to join unions to improve their bargaining position in future contract talks.
avoiding bankruptcy chances slim
The airline's already slim chances of avoiding bankruptcy are dwindling rapidly.
pension
I would expect, eventually, they will have to terminate the pension plan.
bankruptcy both carriers continue effects expect major
I wouldn't expect to see any major effects of these bankruptcy filings on passengers. I think both carriers will restructure successfully and continue flying.
bankruptcy delta easier further northwest situation
A situation where you have United, Delta and Northwest all in bankruptcy does make it easier to think about further consolidation.
bankruptcy company early example felt financial heading position pursue relatively stronger survive toward
They are another example of a company that started out in a relatively stronger financial position than their peers, and they felt they were in better position to survive a shakeout. They didn't pursue cost-cutting as aggressively as they would have if they were heading toward bankruptcy early in the (industry's) downturn.
cash decline flow free industrial less pay peak percent ratio
Usually, one would see a ratio of less than 50 percent for industrial and transportation companies; however, that's the peak and from there, it should decline as they use free cash flow to pay down debt.
airlines amount carries divert fair fix helps percent problem revenue shutting united
United shutting down doesn't necessarily fix the problem for other airlines, but it helps a lot. It does divert a fair amount of revenue to other airlines -- United carries about 17 percent of the nation's traffic.
agreement group labor largest last major mechanics pilots reach savings sought source striking
The pilots are the last major labor group to reach a preliminary agreement (except for striking mechanics who have been replaced) and the largest source of labor savings being sought by the airline.