American Airlines parent AMR Corp. is open to the possibility of helping pay for its bankruptcy exit with private equity or other outside funding, Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton said, Bloomberg News reported today. AMR is close to completing its reorganization plan and its evaluation of whether to stay independent or merge with US Airways (LCC) Corp., Horton said yesterday. Financing, leadership and choosing from options including a merger and a go-it-alone approach are among the unresolved questions facing Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR. An ad hoc bondholder group with about $885 million in AMR debt has told American's pilots that its support for a stand-alone airline would be conditioned on the naming of a new board. Horton said he expects AMR to exit chapter 11 soon, without providing a timeframe. AMR has maintained the more than $4 billion in cash and short-term investments (AAMRQ) it had when it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 29, 2011. The case is In re AMR Corp., 11-15463, U.S. Bankruptcy Court (S.D.N.Y.) (Manhattan).
