Airline Finance News - North America

AirGuide Business, April 14, 2008

Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines

Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and their European partners have received tentative antitrust immunity from the DoT to cooperate on pricing and routes. The DoT's decision expands trans-Atlantic immunity to airlines that fly the routes as part of the SkyTeam alliance. Apr 10, 2008

Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines

Delta talks with pilots, may announce merger with Northwest soon. If Delta Air Lines succeeds in negotiations with its pilot union, Delta and Northwest Airlines could move forward with a merger as early as next week, according to media reports. The pilot groups for the two airlines have been at odds over how to integrate seniority lists if the carriers merge. Delta declined to comment on any negotiations with the pilots, but reports said the airline wants the union to drop restrictions on their labor agreement to give the carrier more flexibility. Apr 9, 2008

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, citing unexpected problems with its credit card processor, but said it would operate its flights normally. The low-cost carrier's move to operate normally despite its troubles sets it apart, at least for now, from four small struggling U.S. airlines that said last week that they would stop flying. Record fuel prices, along with a steadily weakening U.S. economy, have put the brakes on the airline industry's recovery from a long downturn. Low-cost airlines, even some big ones, are beginning to feel the effect. Last week, Aloha Airlines, Champion Air, ATA Airlines and Skybus Airlines all said they had shut down operations. In a statement, Frontier said its principal credit card processor surprised it very recently by saying that from April 11, it would withhold a chunk of proceeds from its ticket sales. The change would have affected its business plan in a material way, the 14-year-old carrier's Chief Executive Sean Menke said in a statement. Despite filing for bankruptcy, Frontier said it believes it has enough cash to match its operating needs. The Denver-based carrier reported a fourth-quarter loss in January, citing higher fuel prices and said it would sell four of its nearly two dozen Airbus jets to bolster its cash position. Frontier employs about 6,000 people. It filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Apr 11, 2008

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Holdings announced on April 10, 2008 that, following an unexpected attempt by its principal credit card processor to substantially increase a "holdback" of customer receipts, which threatened to severely impact Frontier's liquidity, Frontier and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Frontier intends to continue the exceptional service customers experienced Friday throughout its reorganization process. More information about Frontier's Chapter 11 filing is available on the Internet at FrontierAirlines.com/restructure. Court filings and claims information are available at http://Chapter11.epiqsystems.com/frontier Apr 11, 2008