Against criticism from the U.S. government's executive-bonus watchdog, attorneys for American Airlines's parent company defended the $20 million severance payment promised to departing Chief Executive Tom Horton, arguing that the bill would be paid once the company merges with US Airways Group Inc., Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In court papers filed on Thursday, attorneys for AMR Corp. argued that the company has the power to promise the severance payment to Horton as part of its chapter 11 reorganization plan because the payment money would come from "the surviving entity of the merger with a new asset base."
