Our primary carrier for the last 10 years.
DH has 390,000 Frequent Flier miles. I have almost 100,000, and even the kids have 20,000 to 45,000 each.
We use our United Mileage Plus VISA religiously.
Plus, we have a previously booked trip with United.
United Airlines Lurches Toward Bankruptcy
Dec. 5
By Kathy Fieweger
CHICAGO (Reuters) - United Airlines' credit rating was slashed to "default" grade and trading of its stock halted on Thursday after U.S. government rejection of a loan guarantee made bankruptcy of the world's No. 2 airline virtually certain.
Shares of its parent, UAL Corp. <UAL.N>, traded briefly at $1.28 in third-market dealings, down from Wednesday's close at $3.12, before the New York Stock Exchange halted trading in the stock. Trading resumed in the early afternoon, and shares were trading at $1.02, down about 67 percent.
Trading was stopped for "news pending" -- a status that indicates the exchange expects a news statement before trading can resume. The airline, however, said it had no plans to issue a news release. The stock exchange said later on Thursday it was evaluating whether to continue listing UAL shares and would move to suspend trading if the stock price was "abnormally low."
Bond prices also sank on expectations that unsecured creditors will recover little of their money.
Standard & Poor's cut its credit ratings on United and UAL debt to "default" grade, its lowest rating, and said bankruptcy was virtually certain after the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board rejected the airline's bid for a loan guarantee to support $1.8 billion of $2 billion in private financing it hoped to get from its banks.
"The (U.S. government) decision will almost certainly lead to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by UAL and United as soon as United has completed arrangements for debtor-in possession financing," said S&P credit analyst Philip Baggaley.
An army of bankers, lawyers and consultants were preparing documents for the No. 2 U.S. airline to make a filing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, probably this weekend, people familiar with the matter said.
They said the airline, based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, was "lining up its ducks" by finalizing special bankruptcy financing needed to operate in Chapter 11. The size of the debtor-in-possession financing, which gets priority for repayment over most other forms of credit, is thought to be around $1.5 billion.
Union leaders and employees still held out hope that United could submit a new loan-guarantee application.
Employees own 55 percent of the company under a 1994 plan designed to foster labor harmony. But employee ownership failed to win labor peace, and the airline has some of the highest costs in the industry.
The U.S. airline industry has been ravaged by its worst financial crisis since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack attacks on New York and Washington. United posted the biggest annual loss in airline history in 2001, at more than $2 billion, and is bleeding some $8 million a day.
U.S. Airways <UAWGQ.O>, based in Arlington, Virginia, filed for bankruptcy in August. Analysts said a United bankruptcy could ripple through the airline industry, setting off a brutal battle for survival if United is able to shed labor costs and financial liabilities while it is in bankruptcy.
DH has 390,000 Frequent Flier miles. I have almost 100,000, and even the kids have 20,000 to 45,000 each.
We use our United Mileage Plus VISA religiously.
Plus, we have a previously booked trip with United.
United Airlines Lurches Toward Bankruptcy
Dec. 5
By Kathy Fieweger
CHICAGO (Reuters) - United Airlines' credit rating was slashed to "default" grade and trading of its stock halted on Thursday after U.S. government rejection of a loan guarantee made bankruptcy of the world's No. 2 airline virtually certain.
Shares of its parent, UAL Corp. <UAL.N>, traded briefly at $1.28 in third-market dealings, down from Wednesday's close at $3.12, before the New York Stock Exchange halted trading in the stock. Trading resumed in the early afternoon, and shares were trading at $1.02, down about 67 percent.
Trading was stopped for "news pending" -- a status that indicates the exchange expects a news statement before trading can resume. The airline, however, said it had no plans to issue a news release. The stock exchange said later on Thursday it was evaluating whether to continue listing UAL shares and would move to suspend trading if the stock price was "abnormally low."
Bond prices also sank on expectations that unsecured creditors will recover little of their money.
Standard & Poor's cut its credit ratings on United and UAL debt to "default" grade, its lowest rating, and said bankruptcy was virtually certain after the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board rejected the airline's bid for a loan guarantee to support $1.8 billion of $2 billion in private financing it hoped to get from its banks.
"The (U.S. government) decision will almost certainly lead to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by UAL and United as soon as United has completed arrangements for debtor-in possession financing," said S&P credit analyst Philip Baggaley.
An army of bankers, lawyers and consultants were preparing documents for the No. 2 U.S. airline to make a filing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, probably this weekend, people familiar with the matter said.
They said the airline, based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, was "lining up its ducks" by finalizing special bankruptcy financing needed to operate in Chapter 11. The size of the debtor-in-possession financing, which gets priority for repayment over most other forms of credit, is thought to be around $1.5 billion.
Union leaders and employees still held out hope that United could submit a new loan-guarantee application.
Employees own 55 percent of the company under a 1994 plan designed to foster labor harmony. But employee ownership failed to win labor peace, and the airline has some of the highest costs in the industry.
The U.S. airline industry has been ravaged by its worst financial crisis since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack attacks on New York and Washington. United posted the biggest annual loss in airline history in 2001, at more than $2 billion, and is bleeding some $8 million a day.
U.S. Airways <UAWGQ.O>, based in Arlington, Virginia, filed for bankruptcy in August. Analysts said a United bankruptcy could ripple through the airline industry, setting off a brutal battle for survival if United is able to shed labor costs and financial liabilities while it is in bankruptcy.
