Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber yesterday cleared regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines Corp. to leave chapter 11 as a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc., a decision that streamlines Pinnacle's operations and costs in an increasingly consolidating airline industry, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. Pinnacle said that it expects to be out of bankruptcy by May 1, and that the only regulatory approval it needed--an obscure one from the U.S. Department of Transportation--will not delay the deal. Pinnacle used its bankruptcy to cut deals with its three main unions that call for deep concessions among those workers. It also focused on cutting its operating costs in the ever-competitive airline industry and ended up in the wings of Delta, its only remaining customer. The deal calls for Pinnacle to nearly double the number of large planes it flies for Delta to 81 and to phase out its fleet of smaller planes.
