A federal bankruptcy court has approved a request by Republic Airways Holdings to return to lessors 28 Embraer ERJs, one Embraer E170 and nine spare engines, court document show.
The court also approved the Indianapolis-based regional airline company’s request to be free from obligations related to leases of real estate at Denver International airport and Milwaukee International airport.
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the requests on 17 June, documents show.
Republic, which owns regional carriers Republic Airlines and Shuttle America, has been leasing the 28 ERJs and nine spare Rolls-Royce AE3007 turbofans from GE Capital Aviation Services.
The aircraft include 24 ERJ-145s and four ERJ-140s, all of which are located at Kingman, Arizona, court documents show.
In a 31 May request to the court, Republic called ERJs “out-of-favour aircraft”.
Returning the regional jets is “an integral” part of a restructuring plan that calls for Republic to operate a single-type fleet of E170s and E175s, Republic’s attorney wrote.
The company said it sought to return the single E170, which has been leased from Dougherty Air Trustee, after failing “to reach a new [lease] agreement that met Republic’s long-term needs,” Republic said in court documents.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
