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Brazilian airline Gol does not expect its chapter 11 proceedings to trigger job cuts, its chief executive said on Friday, reiterating that the carrier's operations will remain as usual while it is under bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. Gol, Brazil's second-largest airline in terms of passengers transported, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Thursday as it grapples with high debt seen at around 20 billion reais ($4.07 billion). CEO Celso Ferrer in an interview with CBN radio said that the carrier's main goal with the move is to restructure its balance sheet so it can grow again. "There will not be layoffs related to this process. From now on we want to grow," Ferrer said, adding that operationally the carrier has been seeing a "significant recovery" after positive results in recent quarters. Gol is the latest in a series of Latin American carriers to seek bankruptcy protection after the COVID-19 pandemic, following the path of sister company Avianca, Mexico's Aeromexico and Chile-based LATAM Airlines.

A Texas-based trucking company has filed for bankruptcy liquidation four days before a wrongful death civil trial filed by the family of one of its former drivers who drowned in 2016 was slated to start in El Paso County, Texas, Freight Waves reported. J.J. & Sons Logistics, doing business as JJ Transport, of Clint, Texas, filed its petition Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. In its Chapter 7 petition, JJ Transport listed its assets as up to $500,000 and liabilities as between $100 million and $500 million. The shuttered company states that it has up to 49 creditors and maintains that funds will be available for unsecured creditors once it pays administrative fees. JJ Transport once had 19 drivers and 18 power units prior to filing for bankruptcy. In its bare-bones petition, the company listed Fleetone Factoring LLC of Antioch, Tennessee; Auxillior Capital Partners of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania; and Wells Fargo Bank of Des Moines, Iowa, as creditors, although no amounts were given. Its trucks had been inspected 27 times and two had been placed out of service in a 24-month period, resulting in a 7.4% out-of-service rate. This is lower than the industry’s national average of around 22.3%, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website. JJ Transport’s drivers had been inspected 53 times over the same 24-month period and one driver was placed out of service, resulting in a 1.9% out-of-service rate. This is lower than the national average of around 6.7%, according to FMCSA data. In the past two years, the company’s trucks had been involved in five crashes, including two injuries and three towaways.

Distressed-debt investors will be watching a trial starting Thursday over Incora’s 2022 debt transaction that could reshape the aerospace parts distributor’s restructuring plan, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. In that deal, Wesco Aircraft Holdings, which does business as Incora, raised $250 million in new financing from Silver Point Capital, Pimco and other bondholders and exchanged $450 million in bonds due in 2024 for new debt with later maturities. The deal excluded holders of secured bonds including JPMorgan, BlackRock and SSD Investments, which is an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital, as well as a large holder of unsecured bonds, an affiliate of investment firm King Street Capital. The excluded investors filed two separate lawsuits two years ago against Incora, its private-equity owner Platinum Equity, participating investors, and the bondholder trustee that signed off on the deal, claiming that the deal violated the debt agreements and seeking damages for up to the full value of their debt holdings. They also said Incora failed to garner the approval of two-thirds of its bondholders to clear the threshold for the 2022 debt transaction. The trial, which is expected to last several days, follows a ruling by Judge Marvin Isgur of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston earlier this month allowing the lawsuits to proceed.

Brazilian airline Gol said on Thursday it is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, with a $950 million financial commitment from its controlling shareholder Abra Group, Reuters reported. Abra also controls Colombian carrier Avianca, though the two airlines operate separately. The move makes Gol the latest Latin American carrier to seek bankruptcy protection after a pandemic-related crisis, following the path of its sister company Avianca, Mexico's Aeromexico and Chile-based LATAM Airlines. The decision was somewhat expected by market participants after media reports earlier this month said Gol was considering the move, even as the company maintained it sought a "consensual" restructuring in discussion with creditors.

Steward Health Care System, the largest tenant of hospital landlord Medical Properties Trust, has engaged restructuring advisers as the healthcare provider contends with deepening financial problems, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Dallas-based Steward is working with law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges and turnaround consulting firm AlixPartners to evaluate options for its troubled business.

Lumen Technologies garnered the support of more debtholders for an out-of-court restructuring deal that would allow the telecom company to push out maturities past 2027, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The company on Thursday said it secured the backing of holders of $12.5 billion of debt — up from $7 billion last fall — extending their due dates to 2029 and 2030. The holders who have agreed to swap their debt together own 70% of the debt coming due at Lumen and its Level3 subsidiary between now and 2027, the company said. The new deal provides fresh capital totaling $1.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion agreed to last year, according to the company’s disclosures. “The broad support for this agreement across our capital structure is a clear indication of the confidence in our transformation strategy and our vision, which allows us to focus on our path forward,” Chris Stansbury, Lumen’s chief financial officer said. Formerly known as CenturyLink, Monroe, La.-based Lumen expanded through several takeovers, including a $25 billion merger with Level 3 Communications in 2017. The company is grappling with $20 billion in debt, much of which comes due in the next several years. The company faces more than $12 billion in debt maturities between now and 2027, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Orsted has signed an agreement with Eversource Energy to acquire full ownership of U.S. offshore wind farm Sunrise Wind, months after the Danish energy company halted development of some offshore wind projects in the country, Reuters reported. The company did not provide financial details for Wednesday's acquisition of Eversource's 50% stake in Sunrise Wind, a 924 MW offshore wind farm which would deliver power to New York. Orsted, the world's biggest offshore wind developer, halted the development of two U.S. offshore wind projects last year and said related impairments had surged above $5 billion. The acquisition is subject to the ongoing New York 4 solicitation for offshore wind capacity and signing of a contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the company said. The 50-50 joint venture for Sunrise Wind will remain in place if the approval is not granted.

A federal judge moved to limit the cost and length of a new outside investigation of FTX Trading, the fraud-tainted crypto firm, saying its insolvency case should not be disrupted by another multimillion-dollar probe, Bloomberg News reported. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey sided with lawyers for FTX and its creditors, who argued that the new investigation ordered by an appellate court should be short and limited in scope. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ordered the appointment of an examiner for the chapter 11 case, but left the details of any investigation up to Judge Dorsey. The Office of the U.S. Trustee, the federal watchdog that monitors corporate bankruptcies, had argued that the cost, length and scope of the new investigation should be left open until after the appointment of an examiner. Judge Dorsey said that was a recipe for runaway costs that won’t turn up anything new. “Left to an open process, that could involve tens of millions of dollars,” Judge Dorsey said during a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware. In the coming weeks, attorneys for the company, its creditors and the U.S. Trustee should work together on a formal proposal to appoint an examiner, Judge Dorsey said.

WeWork hasn’t paid certain landlords January rent as part of its negotiation strategy, lawyers representing the creditor committee in bankruptcy said in a court filing on Tuesday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The co-working company is withholding January rent payments of about $33 million “in an effort to strong-arm negotiations with certain landlords,” while receiving fees from its members that occupy the space, according to the bankruptcy court filing. The lawyers said in the filing that while they understand WeWork’s need to rationalize its lease portfolio as part of financial restructuring, the bankruptcy code clearly states that while in bankruptcy, rent payments for unrejected leases must be paid. In fact, WeWork’s budget recently approved by the court “expressly provided for the payment of January rent,” the lawyers said. The company in November filed for chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey. A WeWork spokesman said that the company’s temporary actions of nonpayment “are intended to expedite conversations to reach resolutions that are in the best interests of our entire ecosystem.” “We remain committed to finding mutually beneficial solutions that are better aligned with today’s market conditions, and that will enable us to successfully move forward in our restructuring process,” the spokesman said. Landlords that weren’t paid January rent include City Office REIT, which owns and operates office properties mostly in Sunbelt cities such as Dallas, Phoenix and Tampa, according to the court filings and the company’s website.