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September 1,
2006
Airlines
name='1'>Delta, Retired Pilots Clash Over Pension
Plan
Bankrupt carrier Delta
Airlines asked a judge to toss its pension plans in an effort to cut
costs, but its retired pilots aren’t giving up without a fight
,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday. A
judge will hear arguments from both Delta and its pilots today and will
rule on Delta’s motion to terminate its pension obligations on
Saturday. Although the airline’s active pilots have reached an
agreement with the carrier and have not lodged a protest to the pension
cuts, retired pilots have been vocal in their opposition to the plan. In
court documents filed last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Southern District of New York, attorneys representing a group comprising
an estimated 2,700 retired pilots said Delta “should not be
allowed to use a distress termination of the pilot plan to wash their
hands of obligations that they knowingly, willingly and voluntarily
undertook” when the airline agreed to a class action settlement
last September. The case is
size='3'>In re Delta Air Lines Inc. et al.,
case number 05-17923, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York.
name='2'>Comair Gets More Time for Service Bid
Comair’s chief executive
said that Delta Air Lines Inc. has agreed to extend the deadline for the
Delta subsidiary to bid on regional jet service as it continues to cope
with the crash of Flight 5191, the Associated Press reported. Comair
President Don Bornhorst said in a memo to employees that he asked
Atlanta-based Delta to extend the Sept. 18 deadline it had set for bids
for some of its regional jet service, much of which is now handled by
Comair. Bornhorst said Delta has agreed to give Comair until Oct. 2 to
submit its proposal. Delta said Aug. 22 that it had requested proposals
from Comair and other regional airlines for operating up to 143 of its
regional jets, including up to 43 70-seat jets and as many as 50 50-seat
jets. Delta also is seeking bids for the operation of 50 new 76-seat
jets not yet in service.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Comair-Delta.html?_r=1&oref…'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
name='3'>New York
size='3'>Nonprofit Cultural Foundation Files Chapter
11
The bankrupt Beacon
Cultural Foundation, which runs the nonprofit Kaatsbaan International
Dance Center based in Tivoli, N.Y., filed for chapter 11 protection in
order to stave off foreclosure
, according to a
size='3'>Poughkeepsie Journal commentary
today. “It's fair to say it's less likely with a nonprofit that it
will be viable after reorganization,' said ABI Resident Scholar
'It's less likely that it's just a matter of debt.' The filing permits
the foundation to propose a change to the valuation on the former
w:st='on'>High
School
$4.25 million, to its true market value, which it believes to be $1.2
million. The foundation's officers believe it will be financially viable
and able to pay its debts to the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Beacon
size='3'>City
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>School
District
w:st='on'>Central
Hudson
proposed value of the building is accepted by the bankruptcy
judge.
href='http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060901/…'>Read
more.
name='4'>Adelphia Hit with Objections to Disclosure
Plan
Adelphia Communications
Corp. has received numerous objections to its proposed disclosure plan
with interested parties accusing the bankrupt cable provider of
abandoning neutrality in inter-creditor disputes and hastily drafting a
reorganization plan,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday.
The equity-holders’ committee accused the company of transgressing
“the bright line of neutrality that has been carefully drawn and
zealously maintained by this court.” The company’s
noteholders and a group of banks have also objected to the plan and are
seeking an end to Adelphia’s exclusivity period.
Adelphia filed its fifth
amended reorganization plan and accompanying disclosure statement
earlier this month, which, unlike previous reorganization plans, had the
support of most of the major bondholders and trade creditors. The case
is Adelphia
Communications Corp. et al., case number
02-41729-reg, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
New York.
w:st='on'>
name='5'>Judge
w:st='on'>
size='3'> Approves
w:st='on'>
size='3'> Tower
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Automotive’s Union
Deal
A federal bankruptcy
judge approved a settlement between Tower Automotive Inc., and two of
its unions to cut labor costs,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported yesterday.
The settlement was reached with the United Auto Workers and the
International Union of Electric Workers/Communications Workers of
America, who had threatened to strike if planned cuts went into effect.
Bankruptcy Judge Allan
Gropper in the Southern District of New York
signed off on the deal this week, saying it was in the best interests of
Tower and its creditors. Tower’s unsecured creditors’
committee opposed the settlement, arguing that it is patterned after a
similarly flawed deal reached earlier this year with Tower’s
retired employees in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Milwaukee
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Wis.
is In re Tower
Automotive Inc., case number 05-10578, in the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New
York.
name='6'>Storagetek Objects to SGI’s Reorganization
Plan
In a motion filed
Wednesday, Storage Technology Corp. objected to Silicon Graphics
Inc.’s reorganization plan, stating that the plan proposes to
limit and postpone the payment of over $1 million owed to
Storagetek, Portfolio
Media reported yesterday. According to the
motion, Storagetek and SGI are in a remarketing agreement dating back to
1998 in which Storagetek agreed to sell computer data storage products
to SGI for resale or lease to its customers. Bankruptcy Judge
Burton R. Lifland
of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Manhattan
granted Silicon Graphics’ request for an extension to wield sole
control over its reorganization plan, pushing back the deadline for the
company to submit a chapter 11 proposal from Sept. 5 to Dec. 29. The
court also extended the computer maker's exclusive right to gain
creditor support for its plan until Feb. 28, 2007, well beyond the
original expiration date of Nov. 4.
ABB
May Sell U.S. Unit after Chapter 11 Exit
Switzerland-based
electrical engineering company ABB Ltd (ABB) said that it was poised to
sell its U.S. non-core oil and gas subsidiary, Lummus Global, after the
unit exited chapter 11 proceedings and successfully rid itself of
asbestos lawsuits, Dow Jones Newswires reported today. ABB said,
however, that it was in no hurry to divest the unit as Lummus was
profiting from strong infrastructure demand in the oil and gas industry.
ABB bought dozens of bigger and smaller companies in the 1990s in what
later turned out to be a failed expansion strategy that left ABB saddled
with debt and asbestos litigation in the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>United States
size='3'>. Houston-based Lummus Global filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy
in the
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>earlier this year amid efforts to completely rid the unit of
several thousand asbestos lawsuits.
href='http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=49539&lang=fr…'>Read
more.
name='8'>Portrait Corp. Files for Chapter 11
Financially troubled
Portrait Corp. of America Inc. (PCA) has filed for chapter 11 after
reaching an agreement with some of its bondholders, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Charlotte Business Journal
reported today. The bondholders began negotiating with
the photo-services company last spring on steps to avoid liquidation.
PCA says it should be able to emerge from chapter 11 protection within a
few months. The company expects to eliminate 75 percent of its debt and
$30 million in annual interest payments. PCA has faced financial
problems for some time, including default on some notes and unpaid bills
to vendors. The company lost $34.4 million in 2005 and $29.7 million in
2004.
href='http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2006/08/28/daily32.html?t=…'>Read
more.
Rooms
for Less Files for Chapter 7
Rooms for Less Furniture
Outlet in Candler, N.C., owes dozens of creditors about $694,000,
according to the company’s chapter 7 bankruptcy protection filed
in
size='3'>Western North Carolina
size='3'>federal courts last week, the
size='3'>Asheville Citizen-Times reported
today. The bankruptcy petition shows $482,470 in assets, including
$115,000 in furniture inventory. Norma Messer, president of the Better Business
Bureau of Asheville and
size='3'>, said that 63 people have filed complaints against Rooms for
Less for not receiving furniture they had purchased.
href='http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200660831101'>Read
more.