A divestiture IS a sale. That's what the word means. You are suggesting that AMR's potential divestment of Eagle will result in a liquidation of assets. I do not know the agreement (if there even is one) between Eagle and AMR especially pertaining to min fleet numbers/block hours flown, but a liquidation is one of many different things that 'could' be a possibility, however, unlikely IMO.

The thread title was a bit misleading as there is nothing in the letter to suggest that a liquidation of Eagle's assets were going to take place; just a potential divestment of the company. The same thing happened to Colgan, Compass, Mesaba, ASA, etc.

When Compass and Mesaba were sold Delta still held the leases on the planes and leased them to their new owners

Who would buy an airline without the planes to operate?

AMR has every right to keep the airplanes. They will initially contract with AE for at least several years to keep flying them...otherwise nobody will buy.

A potential investor is essentially buying a feed contract and a seniority list. When the contract is up, the new owner can (and will) squeeze the pilot group for catastrophic concessions in order to remain competitive to rebid their own flying. If the pilots (and other labor) don't give up enough, some or all of the flying goes to low bidders.

And the investor doesn't even need that long of a guarantee...he's not investing massive capital in airplanes, just some light overhead and easily disposable labor. 3-5 years should be enough.

Somebody who can do math. As long as the contract value is enough to pay for the labor and overhead required to operate said airplanes, with a profit margin and small buffer for unforeseen risk it's a good investment.

So what if you get fired in five years? You don't owe anybody anything...pocket the proceeds, fire all the employees, and walk away.

Apparently I didn't convey my point clearly or you missed my point

That no one would buy and airline if they didn't have planes to operate (weather they were owned or leased)

And yea I can do math.

I changed the name to reflect the letter you posted. I see nothing about liquidation. That is your speculation, which you are free to do.

"The partial or full disposal of an investment or asset through sale, exchange, closure or bankruptcy. Divestiture can be done slowly and systematically over a long period of time, or in large lots over a short time period."

Divestiture Definition

They can just "LIQUIDATE" the company if they want. That's also what divestiture means.

Since AMR is trying to keep the planes AFTER divestiture, that means closure or liquidation.

Of course all of this is potential and no one will know after it's all over, but the letter from the union infers liquidation.

Prior to the letter, we were under the impression we would be spun off to become an independent airline. But we need airplanes for that...

Well that's what the entire thread was supposed to be about. Speculation and discussion of liquidation.

Liquidation is usually what it means to divest a company and keep it's primary assets.

I would have appreciated if you would have asked me before you changed my thread.

I would very much appreciate it if you changed the name back to the original name. That's what this thread was for.

Thank you.

Not correct. AMR could keep the airframes and sell the Eagle certificate, leasing the aircraft back to the company that purchased Eagle. Lease-backs seem to be the flavor of the month these days between Majors/Regionals.