US Airways granted court approval of bridge orders
Bridge orders cover employee wages and benefits, customer programs, fuel contracts, interline agreements and other essential relief
US Airways Group, Inc. announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court entered a series of "bridge" orders on Sunday evening, which will assure routine operations while the Court hears the Company's first day motions on Monday, Sept. 13, 2004.
Under the interim relief granted by the Court, US Airways received permission to, among other things:
Pay employee wages and continue benefits, such as medical and dental insurance.
Honor pre-petition obligations to customers and continue customer programs including US Airways' Dividend Miles program.
Pay for fuel under existing fuel supply contracts, and honor existing fuel supply, distribution and storage agreements.
Assume contracts relating to interline agreements with other airlines.
Pay pre-petition obligations to foreign vendors, foreign service providers and foreign governments.
Continue maintenance of existing bank accounts and existing cash management systems.
The Company filed its Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The Honorable Stephen Mitchell has been assigned to the case. A hearing on the Company's first day motions has been scheduled before Judge Mitchell at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 13 in Courtroom #1 at the Martin V. B. Bostetter, Jr. United States Courthouse in Alexandria. The case number is 04-13819.
"We are very pleased that the Court has granted this important relief with respect to our employees, customers and vendors, which ensures the seamless launch of our restructuring under Chapter 11," said Bruce Lakefield, president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to the Court's timely consideration of our full slate of first-day orders at tomorrow's hearing."
Lakefield said customers should notice no changes to flight operations or customer service programs because of the filing. All bookings will be honored, and ticketing policies are unchanged. Existing marketing partnerships with other airlines remain in place. Vendors will be paid in ordinary course for provided goods and services going forward. In the future, if there are any changes to schedules or policies, they will be announced in advance.