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E-mailUS Airways creditors approve plan
The company, based in Arlington, Va., released a statement saying that the creditors' agreement, and approval of the plan Tuesday by America West shareholders, bring the company close to leaving court protection and completing the merger within weeks.
"The result will be a more stable and more competitive US Airways," Chief Executive Bruce R. Lakefield said in a statement.
US Airways, with $7.11 billion in sales last year and a $611 million loss, filed for bankruptcy in September 2004 for the second time in two years. Airlines have been battling higher fuel costs and labor expenses as competing cut-rate carriers have taken business.
A hearing on the recovery plan before U.S. District Judge Stephen Mitchell is scheduled to start today in Alexandria, and the merger can close 11 days after a confirmation, the company said. The combined company, called US Airways, will be based at America West's offices in Phoenix.
America West Chairman and CEO Doug Parker, who will hold those titles with the merged airline, was to arrive in Pittsburgh last night along with Senior Vice President C.A. Howlett Sr. to conduct a series of meetings here today with top local business and political officials at the Duquesne Club, Downtown.
The meetings, according to a letter from Allegheny County Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George, are designed for Parker to address his "plans for the airline and the Pittsburgh community."
The airline's Pittsburgh presence has been severely pared.
A year ago, US Airways employed more than 6,000 people locally; it now employs about 2,000. The airline, which once operated more than 500 flights from Pittsburgh International Airport, now operates about 210.
US Airways has a strong presence on the East Coast and in the Caribbean. America West, based in Tempe, operates across the West from hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Even though America West is considered the financially stronger company, the US Airways name will survive and be used when the nation's seventh- and eighth-largest carriers are combined to create the No. 6 airline. Its stock will trade under the symbol LCC, standing for Low Cost Carrier.
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