Originally Posted by
The Duke
Rick,
I've read quite a few of your posts and you seem quite knowlegeable re: bankruptcy, etc. It's a bit frustrating right now because there is this much-talked about non-deferrable bond payment due, supposedly in February. I've heard it's to Bombardier for approx. $100 million dollars. As you've noted, we don't have nearly that much in the bank. Whether it's $50 million or $34 million, we're no where close to having the money right now and will not have $100 million come February. So what does this mean? Is there any way to get around a non-deferrable bond payment? (I strongly suspect the answer is no). Does declaring Chapt. 11 somehow alter the terms/conditions of the bond payment? (Again, I suspect the answer is no). If Chapter 7 liquidation is our fate, it would be nice to know that now so I could cut my losses and look for suitable employment elsewhere, rather than waiting for the job market (both in/outside of aviation) to get tighter as the economy sheds more jobs.
I've actually had a pretty good run here @ Mesa, but I'm not devastated by the thought of losing a decent job. It's all a part of life, as well as a life in aviation. I'm sorry our CEO has literally squandered the near $300 million we had in the bank trying to flex his ego in Hawaii and I'm sorry for the job losses @ Aloha that were the indirect result of our management team's lack of business ethics. Hawaii was a monumental mistake, my fear is the decision to go into Hawaii could ultimately be our undoing.
Yes it does look bleak. BUT - if there is one thing I give JO credit for, it's finagling money around to make things happen. It may be a lowly way of doing business, but in the end it gets the job done. I think he may be able to scrounge up the money from some place, or in some way. We'll see if he can do it. I'm not sure if filing Ch. 11 will delay the bond payments or not. I don't really know how that works. What I do know is that we (the line flying pilots.... and the FA's and Mx guys and gals) must continue doing our job the best we can, and try not to worry about all that CRAP. If it happens it happens. I'm not going to let the thought of that ruin my holiday season, or my passengers holiday seasons. Worrying about the situation does not help any. Between the Delta case, the bonds due and the aloha lawsuit - we have a lot of CRAP to deal with. Here's hoping to getting through all of it. If we don't, well I've enjoyed flying with you guys, and I'll certainly miss it all. The people at this company rock, and I'm proud to call many of them friends.
Edit: I edited out the "F" word I used twice. I forgot I got a warning for using profanity in another post. I mean are we not adults here?