You said it best, what difference does having the most cash have when you have far more debt. Plus I believe they are obligated to have at least 3 billion in cash or creditors can come knocking. AA bonds are trading in distress territory. Again AA has more debt then United and Delta combined and AA is more leveraged at the moment then when they filed BK in 2011. Let that sink in for a moment.

I read somewhere (Aviation Week?) that Spirit and Southwest are both financially very healthy, albeit this is like saying they have the best canoe as everyone has a hurricane crashing down soon. I believe various metrics played into this, cost to operate their fleets, profitability, CASM, debt, etc.

Amount of debt is meaningless. The important factor is the cost to service that debt. I said what is important is your burn rate which isn’t just debt. Using $12b in cash to pay off debt would’ve resulted in roughly a $50m a month improvement in cash flow....hardly worth mentioning when we go through $3.5b a month...

I don’t know anything about a low limit on cash on hand. Way over anyone who posts on here paygrade most likely, unless it was made known publicly.

Isn’t Boeing our largest creditor? It’s in their best interests for us to continue operating, even pushing back payments. Who else is buying their jets now?

Some Analyst on CNBC quoted. So what’s your thoughts? How many months can AA withstand before they are forced into BK? My thought was 3-5. I just don’t think they can furlough and lay-off faster then checks have to be written with 70% less revenue coming in (United CEO revenue quoted).

I sat down to do the math a few days ago when they came out with that number and never made it any further, I didn't want to know the answer.

Worst case scenario is we end up like GM and Ford during 2008. Taking loans from the government. The banks were in a similar spot where they were forced to re capitalize but against their will. Mnuchin has been in contact with airline management about funding. The good news is the corporate malfeasance is not present like it was with the banks back then. Yes we did the buybacks but most people don’t care about that crap. Public perception is meaningful.

6-8 weeks.

There’s a point to my response, I’ll get to it, but hang with me.

GM and Chrysler received TARP funds (i.e. “bailouts”) and both ended up nationalized by our federal government. The government spun off GMAC (GM’s financing arm), now Alliance. Also chopped GM’s dealership structure by 40%. And they sold off the majority of Chrysler to Fiat. Ford received a government loan in 2009 for $5.9 billion, with stipulations for its use towards hybrid/electric vehicles, they have until 2022 to repay that loan. See link below for more details.

The reason I bring this up is because there is a way to receive federal assistance that doesn’t include taking bailout money and letting the federal government into the hen house. Hopefully AA’s balance sheet is sufficient to receive a loan instead of a bailout.

2009 Federal assistance for GM, Chrysler and Ford.

I don't know how you came up with that but it sounds way too short to me. Maybe if they had $0 in revenue coming in and kept everyone employed. We have two months cash to pay bills without anything changing. If it's that bad they will furlough 50% at least and declare to get out of leases and it's gonna happen soon.

The US Government needs AA, Delta, and United. We operate a large fleet of widebodies they literally depend on in case of war. We also operate into and out of many military locations and move troops around internally. Spirit isn't going to be able to fill that void.

I'm not saying we're going to remain our current size but my point is the US Government has a vested interest in our continuing operation.