Originally Posted by
Speedtape
Were those aircraft financed in any way ? I remember seeing something about how it was a paper order to dress things up for any merger.
I can go order a new Mercedes tomorrow, but at some point I gotta pony up the $$$
Not surprisingly they were ordered with very advantageous pre-delivery terms with deposit payments spread out over the five years prior to first delivery.
FWIW, here's what CAL had to say about financing its "firm" orders in 2009:
"We have backstop financing available for the three other Boeing 737 aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2010, subject to customary closing conditions. However, we do not have backstop financing or any other financing currently in place for the balance of the Boeing aircraft on order. Further financing will be needed to satisfy our capital commitments for our firm order aircraft and other related capital expenditures. " - Source: Continental Airlines 2009 Annual Report (p. 22)