We all woke up to this morning's news announcing American Airlines' parent company was headed to federal court to restructure its operations under Chapter 11 protection. The reasons sound similar to why Delta; United; Continental; and US Airways all once sought bankruptcy protection – high labor costs associated with being a legacy airline.
Parent AMR Corp. recently said labor-contract rules forced it to spend $600 million more annually than other airlines. Of course, high fuel costs and a long-sour economy didn't help matters either.
AMR Eagle Holding Corp. also filed for bankruptcy today. The move will delay the spin-off of American Eagle, which looked all but certain to be completed by early next year.
American was the only major U.S. airline that didn't file for bankruptcy protection after 9/11. And it's the first major airline to file for bankruptcy protection since Delta in 2005.
When news like this hits, the mainstream press always reports that travelers won't notice any difference flying American. But how about you? Even if you don't deal with American, the news will likely affect you. I'm curious how you dealt with news like this before and how you're taking this news today.
And you've definitely heard all this more than once. An Associated Press story listed the following airline bankruptcy filings over the past two decades:
Nov. 29, 2011 — American Airlines
Jan 5. 2010 — Mesa Air
Oct. 6, 2008 — Sun Country
April 11, 2008 — Frontier Airlines
March 31, 2008 — Aloha Airlines
Sept. 14, 2005 — Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, Comair
Sept. 12, 2004 — US Airways
Dec. 9, 2002 — United Airlines
Aug. 11, 2002 — US Airways
Jan. 10, 2001 — Trans World Airlines (TWA)
Feb. 26, 1998 — Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)
June 30, 1995 — Trans World Airlines
Sept. 21, 1993 — Hawaiian Airlines
Jan. 31, 1992 — Trans World Airlines
June 27, 1991 — America West Airlines
Jan. 8 1991 — Pan Am World Airways
Dec. 3, 1990 — Continental Airlines
