Hawaiian trustee,
creditors request 6-week
extension for filing plans
Hawaiian Airlines trustee Joshua Gotbaum and the unsecured creditors' meeting filed a motion in federal Bankruptcy Court last night seeking a six-week extension for interested parties to file reorganization plans for the bankrupt airline.
Gotbaum and the committee said they are seeking the additional time to satisfy the financial information demands from co-proponents Corporate Recovery Group LLC and Boeing Capital Corp., as well as to comply with anticipated requests from some of the 13 parties that have expressed interest in filing a joint plan with the trustee and the committee.
The trustee and committee are asking the Bankruptcy Court to extend the deadline for filing reorganization plans to July 26 from June 14 and to move the modification deadline for those plans to Aug. 6 from July 25. No mention was made in the motion of the confirmation hearing, which is scheduled for Aug. 31.
Four parties, including the Corporate Recovery Group-Boeing Capital entity, already have filed plans but could amend them.
"No prejudice to (Hawaiian) will result from this extension," the motion said, adding that the company's financial position remains strong and its unrestricted cash has increased over the first quarter to more than $100 million.
The trustee and the committee also said in the motion that an impasse declared by Corporate Recovery Group and Boeing Capital over access to financial information is "premature" and that nearly all of the 13 interested parties have proposed a higher value to the airline and the creditors than the $250 million proposed by Corporate Recovery Group and Boeing Capital.
A hearing is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. today in Bankruptcy Court.
The motion said that 28 potential investors who were deemed to be qualified proponents signed confidentiality agreements and have been given access to the airline's data site. It also said that the airline has received a higher-than-expected number of expressions of interests and that extending the deadline would maximize the value of the company.
A small group of qualified proponents have been selected to continue participating in the process, the motion said.