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.