Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
Pan American World Airways is determining whether to drop efforts to resume scheduled airline services in favour of re-organising its operations as a scaled down charter carrier after two potential rescue bids were withdrawn.
Pan Am terminated its scheduled flights when it filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors on 26 February, claiming $50 million in assets and $147 million in liabilities.
Hopes of a rescue were first dashed when financier Carl Icahn withdrew his $43 million bid to bail out the Miami-based carrier, which continues to conduct charter flights for Kiwi International Airlines and US charter operators. Icahn, who previously ran Trans World Airlines, said that he dropped his offer because the US bankruptcy court was unenthusiastic.
A new potential suitor emerged, but Milan Mandaric, a Silicon Valley investor and turnaround specialist with no airline industry experience, dropped his bid on 18 March. Mandaric said that he would invest in Pan Am only if he could "find an equation that offered a chance for success for everyone involved". Pan Am says that it is "continuing its intense efforts and analysis in support of its pending re-organisation".
Source: Flight International
