Regional carrier Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, said yesterday that it filed a plan to emerge from bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2017, Reuters reported. A plan of reorganization was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York with the full support of its creditors committee, the company said in a statement. The plan outlines that the company will emerge as a single air carrier under the name Republic Airline Inc., it said.
Helicopter operator Erickson Inc. has put its flying fleet into bankruptcy, blaming oil and gas companies that cut back on drilling operations during a slump in energy prices, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Lawyers who put the Portland, Ore., company into bankruptcy said that profitability has declined since 2013 and that it couldn’t overcome “sustained economic distress” in the oil-and-gas industry, where it provides lift services for production rig equipment. Erickson officials said they plan to negotiate with lenders behind some of its roughly $561 million in debt. The 700-worker company also struggled with the slower pace of U.S. military activity in Afghanistan. Its defense revenues fell about 32 percent throughout last year to $105.2 million. Any debt-cutting plan that Erickson officials put forward will need approval from Judge <b>Barbara J. Houser</b>. The company, founded in 1971, has 69 aircraft. It expanded in 2013 with the $26 million purchases of Brazil’s Air Amazonia Servicos Aeronauticos Ltda and the $298 million purchase of Evergreen Helicopters Inc., which expanded its military work.
Republic Airways Holdings Inc. reached a deal to continue providing regional flights for its largest customer, completing its third pact with the biggest U.S. carriers and removing an obstacle on the path to exiting bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The agreement with American Airlines Group Inc. is critical because the world’s largest carrier accounts for about half of Republic’s revenue, the bankrupt regional airline said in a court filing on Friday. While the accord will initially reduce Republic’s flying for the airline, there’s an option to increase it with American’s consent. “The comprehensive commercial settlement and claims resolution with American is a major achievement for the debtors that clears the pathway for a successful emergence from chapter 11,” Republic said in the filing. The agreement must be approved by Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane.
Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved a deal between bankrupt Republic Airways Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. that will increase the regional carrier’s rates for ferrying Delta passengers and provide it with $75 million in financing, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Judge Lane cleared the deal, which becomes effective on May 6, Republic said in a statement Tuesday. Delta had sued last year, accusing Republic of failing to complete some scheduled flights for regional unit Delta Connection. Republic, which ferries passengers from smaller cities to hub airports for Delta, American Airlines Group Inc., and United Continental Holdings Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection in February after struggling with a shortage of pilots. The carrier had agreed to a new contract with the workers late last year but was unable to negotiate new deals with the three bigger airlines to help cover the costs of higher pay, leading to the filing. The agreement announced Tuesday will allow Republic to stop flying 50-seat aircraft, which have fallen out of favor in the industry, and move exclusively to more profitable 70- to 88-seat aircraft. Delta will provide Republic with $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing, according to the statement.
