AngelsKiss
September 15, 2005, 07:11 AM
It's not only AirJ in trouble. Four American airlines are in trouble. This is new below is about 2 of them:
Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., hobbled by soaring fuel costs and heavy debt and pension obligations, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, becoming the third and fourth major carriers to enter Chapter 11 since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The dual filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York bring into focus the magnitude of the plight of the nation's big airlines, which have lost more than $30 billion in four years even as they slashed thousands of jobs and raised questions about the viability of their employee pension plans.
A spike in fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina was the final blow for both. By joining the parents of United Airlines and US Airways in bankruptcy, the four major carriers represent more than 40 percent of all available seat miles in the U.S., according to analysts. "We are reading the first page in a thriller that will end either in resurrection or the death and burial of an entire industry as we know it today," said William Rochelle, an airline bankruptcy lawyer in New York.
Update 9: Delta and Northwest File for Bankruptcy (http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/09/14/ap2225334.html)
Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., hobbled by soaring fuel costs and heavy debt and pension obligations, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, becoming the third and fourth major carriers to enter Chapter 11 since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The dual filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York bring into focus the magnitude of the plight of the nation's big airlines, which have lost more than $30 billion in four years even as they slashed thousands of jobs and raised questions about the viability of their employee pension plans.
A spike in fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina was the final blow for both. By joining the parents of United Airlines and US Airways in bankruptcy, the four major carriers represent more than 40 percent of all available seat miles in the U.S., according to analysts. "We are reading the first page in a thriller that will end either in resurrection or the death and burial of an entire industry as we know it today," said William Rochelle, an airline bankruptcy lawyer in New York.
Update 9: Delta and Northwest File for Bankruptcy (http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/09/14/ap2225334.html)