Boeing Capital (BCC) is expected to repeat a request for a US bankruptcy court to appoint a trustee to oversee troubled Chapter 11 carrier Hawaiian Airlines after the Honolulu-based judge left the door open for further talks between the parties.
BCC is seeking a management change at the airline after Hawaiian turned down offers of short-term cash relief before declaring bankruptcy on 21 March. The airline still owed $10 million in lease payments for 13 717s and three 767-300ERs. BCC says its offer in January of $18 million was never taken up.
The company wishes to oust chief executive John Adams, who in 2002 allegedly received around $17 million of $25 million raised through a stock buy-back scheme with employees. In May 2002, Boeing says the airline approached it "seeking concessions on leases". The airline, which had received $30 million in post-11 September emergency aid from the US government in early 2002, requested around $20 million in relief from BCC.
"Since May [2002] we have been talking about potential restructuring...as late as January 2003 we had reached an agreement to defer payments on the 717s, so we set up a deferred payment scheme which they defaulted on," says Boeing. The manufacturer filed a motion to appoint a bankruptcy trustee on 31 March, 10 days after Hawaiian filed for Chapter 11 protection.
Hawaiian says the judge, Robert Faris, said he would "not rule immediately, but would give further consideration to the testimony and evidence in the case. He said he would decide on whether the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee or another remedy is appropriate."
The airline would not comment on an eleventh hour compromise offered to Boeing in which Adams and four board members would be replaced by ex-British Airways executive Mark Dunkerley.
Source: Flight International
