Los Angeles wants a long-running battle over hangar fees with American Airlines to continue outside of bankruptcy court now that the airline has emerged from chapter 11 protection and merged with US Airways Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Papers filed on Jan. 2 in bankruptcy court ask relief from the chapter 11 plan injunction barring continued legal action against American so Los Angeles can take its case to federal court in California. The dispute over how much American should pay for a leased hangar at Los Angeles International Airport started out in federal court in California seven years ago, attorneys for the city noted. American has asked a bankruptcy judge to decide the fight and find that it owes nothing to Los Angeles. The city says that it is owed $21.5 million plus interest, a debt Los Angeles insists must be paid as the new American Airlines Group Inc., the company created by the merger, continues to use the hangar.
