It is quite remarkable that, after the enormous financial losses of the past four years, all of the US legacy carriers that existed before September 11, 2001 are still in business. Three have filed for Chapter 11 - UAL, US Airways (twice) and ATA - but there have been no actual shutdowns or liquidations. Why? Because unique public and private support systems have been in place to ensure that even the financially weakest carriers continue operating. Initially, the airlines made it through the worst of the post-September 11 crisis thanks to government cash grants and the federal loan guarantee programme. Subsequently, the legacy sector was kept going by the ingenuity and willingness of the US capital and banking markets to continue providing them new funds. The Chapter 11 process, which has long been criticised for enabling carriers that are clearly not long-term survivors to continue operating for many years, has helped US Airways and UAL enormously since their bankruptcy filings in the second half of 2002. Most recently, on May 10, United's bankruptcy court allowed it to terminate its pension plans and shift $5bn of pension obligations to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures corporate pensions in the US.
展开▼
