AMR Corp. Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton asked an ad hoc bondholder group to study his plan for a stand-alone American Airlines before reviewing a possible merger for the bankrupt carrier, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The group, which holds about $700 million in AMR debt, supports that sequence for its review. Horton expressed frustration with attention being given to a pending US Airways Group Inc. merger bid. The process discussed at the June 13 session in New York is the one being followed in AMR’s bankruptcy, with the company agreeing to consider options after detailing its own strategy to stay independent. The ad hoc group organized outside of bankruptcy court and is not obliged to follow the same steps. Horton's meeting was his first with the bondholders, who formed two such groups in an effort to gain leverage and reap the largest return.
