I have been through an airline chapter 11. Far from an expert however the first thing the judge does is appoint a creditors committee. That committee decides the path the airline will take. The creditors committee(Debtors) can basically do whatever they feel is in their best interest. They can convert chapter 11 to chapter 7 and sell the parts or stay in 11 and pursue continuing operations as a standalone or seek a partner or partners. They have more control over the process than anyone else. At Delta the creditors emerged from the Chapter 11 basically whole. Only the employees got crushed!