Lawmakers recently introduced legislation that would allow American Airlines pilots, flight attendants and other union workers to defer taxes on the equity they’ll receive at the conclusion of the airline’s chapter 11 restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Rep. Michael G. Grimm (R-N.Y.) is sponsoring the bipartisan bill, H.R. 2591, that would push out existing deadlines under federal aviation law to ensure that the union workers can take advantage of the tax deferral that has helped other airline employees in prior bankruptcy cases. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. wants to exit chapter 11 protection through a merger with US Airways Group Inc. AMR is proposing to give its labor unions, unsecured creditors and current shareholders 72 percent of the new common stock in the merged airline, which would keep the American name. The payment plan remains subject to bankruptcy-court approval, while the merger is now under antitrust review.
