Emergence From Chapter 11 and Merger with US Airways Group

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Emergence From Chapter 11 and Merger with US Airways Group

Overview

On November 29, 2011 (the Petition Date), AMR, its principal subsidiary, American Airlines, Inc. (American), and certain of the Company's other direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries (collectively, the Debtors), filed voluntary petitions for relief (the Chapter 11 Cases) under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the Bankruptcy Code) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Bankruptcy Court). On October 21, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order (the Confirmation Order) approving and confirming the Debtors' fourth amended joint plan of reorganization (as amended, the Plan).

On the Effective Date, the Debtors consummated their reorganization pursuant to the Plan, principally through the transactions contemplated by that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended, the Merger Agreement), dated as of February 13, 2013, by and among the Company, AMR Merger Sub and US Airways Group, pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into US Airways Group (the Merger), with US Airways Group surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company following the Merger. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each share of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of US Airways Group was converted into the right to receive one share of American Airlines Group common stock (AAG Common Stock), par value $0.01 per share.

From the Petition Date through the Effective Date, pursuant to automatic stay provisions under the Bankruptcy Code and orders granted by the Bankruptcy Court, all actions to enforce or otherwise effect repayment of liabilities preceding the Petition Date as well as all pending litigation against the Debtors generally were stayed. Following the Effective Date, actions to enforce or otherwise effect repayment of liabilities preceding the Petition Date generally have been permanently enjoined. Any unresolved claims will continue to be subject to the claims reconciliation process under the supervision of the Bankruptcy Court. However, certain pending litigation related to pre-petition liabilities may proceed in courts other than the Bankruptcy Court to the extent the parties to such litigation have obtained relief from the permanent injunction.

Plan of Reorganization

The Plan implements the Merger and incorporates a compromise and settlement of certain intercreditor and intercompany claim issues.

Pursuant to the Plan, all shares of AMR common stock outstanding prior to the Effective Date were canceled. AAG's Certificate of Incorporation, which was approved in connection with the Plan, authorizes the issuance of 1.75 billion new shares of AAG Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 200 million shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share. Of the authorized AAG Series A Preferred Stock, approximately 168 million were designated "Series A Convertible Preferred Stock," with a stated value $25.00 per share, and issued in accordance with the Plan. AAG Common Stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "AAL" and began trading on December 9, 2013. AAG Series A Preferred Stock was listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "AALCP" from December 9, 2013 until its final mandatory conversion on April 8, 2014. In addition, pursuant to the Plan and the Merger Agreement, up to 40 million shares of AAG Common Stock were authorized for issuance under the 2013 Incentive Award Plan (the 2013 IAP).

The Plan contains the following provisions relating to the treatment of pre-petition claims against the Debtors and other holders of allowed interests in AMR:


•	all secured claims against the Debtors have been reinstated;


•	allowed administrative claims, priority claims and convenience claims have been or will be paid in full in cash;


•	other holders of allowed pre-petition unsecured claims, holders of allowed interests and certain employees of AMR received or will receive 72% of AAG Common Stock (on a fully converted basis) authorized to be issued pursuant to the Plan and in connection with the Merger under the following provisions:

◦

all creditors holding general unsecured claims against American that are guaranteed by AAG and general unsecured claims against AAG that are guaranteed by American (Double-Dip Unsecured Claims) were treated the same under the Plan. Holders of Double-Dip Unsecured Claims received, at the Effective Date, their recovery in shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock with a stated amount equal to the allowed amount of their claims, including post-petition interest at the non-default rate;

◦

all creditors holding Single-Dip Unsecured Claims were treated the same regardless of whether the claim was asserted against the AAG Debtors, the American Debtors, or other Debtors. As used herein, "Single-Dip Unsecured Claims" means the general unsecured claims against the Debtors that are not guaranteed by any other Debtor, other than the claims of the Debtors' labor unions representing mainline workers. Holders of Single-Dip Unsecured Claims received, at the Effective Date, a portion of their recovery in shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock and a right, subject to the trading price of the Company's common stock during the 120-day period after the Effective Date, to receive their remaining recovery in shares of AAG Common Stock 120 days after the Effective Date;

◦

holders of certain labor-related deemed claims and certain non-management, non-union employees as specified in the Plan received, at the Effective Date, the right to receive an allocation of shares of AAG Common Stock representing 23.6% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock ultimately distributed to holders of pre-petition general unsecured creditors against the Debtors. On the Effective Date, pursuant to the Plan, an initial allocation of approximately 39 million shares of AAG Common Stock was made related to these labor and employee groups, of which approximately 27 million shares were distributed on the Effective Date and approximately 13 million shares of which were withheld in connection with the Company making a cash payment of approximately $300 million for certain required withholding taxes;

◦

holders of allowed interests in AMR (primarily holders of AMR common stock existing immediately prior to the Effective Date) received, at the Effective Date, a distribution of approximately 26 million shares of AAG Common Stock representing 3.5% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock contemplated for issuance pursuant to the Plan and will receive additional shares of AAG Common Stock if, among other considerations, the trading price of the Company's common stock at various points during the 120-day period after the Effective Date provides for a full recovery to claimholders and other allowed priority interests; and

◦

holders of disputed claims at the Effective Date, to the extent such disputed claims become allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims after the Effective Date, are eligible to receive shares of AAG Common Stock held in reserve (Disputed Claims Reserve), beginning 120 days after the Effective Date. Disputed claimholders that subsequently become Single-Dip unsecured claimholders will receive, subject to the availability of sufficient shares in the Disputed Claims Reserve, the number of shares of AAG Common Stock that the disputed claimholder would have received had such claimholder been a Single-Dip unsecured claimholder as of the Effective Date.

The Plan contemplated the distribution of up to 756 million shares of common stock, however this amount will be reduced by approximately 20 million shares because certain tax withholdings for employees were paid in cash as permitted under the Plan. In accordance with the Plan, the Company issued the remaining shares of AAG Common Stock over the 120-day distribution period, subject to a disputed claims reserve. In addition, pursuant to the Plan, approximately 197 million common shares were distributed to holders of outstanding shares of US Airways Group common stock.

Pursuant to rulings of the Bankruptcy Court, the Plan has established a disputed claims reserve to hold shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock and AAG Common Stock reserved for issuance to disputed claimholders that ultimately become allowed Single-Dip general unsecured claimholders after emergence. The shares provided for under the Plan are determined based upon a disputed claims reserve amount of approximately $755 million, representing the maximum amount of additional allowable Single-Dip claims under the Plan's provisions. Approximately 16 million shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock are reserved for distribution to holders of disputed Single-Dip general unsecured claims whose claims ultimately become allowed. Approximately 18 million of additional new shares of AAG Common Stock were distributed into the reserve on April 10, 2014. As disputed claims are resolved, the claimants will receive distributions of shares from the reserve on the same basis as if such distributions had been made on or about the Effective Date. To the extent that any of the reserved shares remain undistributed upon resolution of the remaining disputed claims, such shares will not be returned to the Company but rather will be distributed by priority first, if necessary, to satisfy unsecured claims or labor-related obligations, and then to former AMR shareholders as of the Effective Date.

AAG is not required to distribute additional shares above the limits contemplated by the Plan described above.

In addition, from the Effective Date through March 31, 2014, the Company made the following cash disbursements under the Plan:


•	$385 million in cash to the Pension plans in connection with missed contributions to the pension plans during Chapter 11 and interest and penalty interest thereon;


•	$107 million in cash to holders in partial or full satisfaction of their claims, including to holders of administrative claims, and state and local priority tax claims;


•	$196 million in cure payments to holders of secured debt; and


•	Approximately $380 million for payroll taxes associated with equity distributions to employees.

Several parties have filed appeals seeking reconsideration of the Confirmation Order. Refer to Note 14 for more information.

As noted above, the reconciliation process with respect to the remaining claims will take considerable time post-emergence. The Company's estimates of the amounts of disputed claims that will ultimately become allowed Single-Dip General Unsecured Claims are included in Mandatorily convertible preferred stock and other bankruptcy settlement obligations on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2014. As these claims are resolved, or where better information becomes available and is evaluated, AAG will make adjustments to the liabilities recorded on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements as appropriate. Any such adjustments could be material to the Company's financial position or results of operations in any given period.

Availability and Utilization of Net Operating Losses

Upon emergence from bankruptcy, the Debtors experienced an "ownership change" as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code which could potentially limit the ability to utilize certain tax attributes including the Debtors’ substantial net operating losses (NOLs). The general limitation rules for a debtor in a bankruptcy case are liberalized where the ownership change occurs upon emergence from bankruptcy. While the Debtors anticipate taking advantage of certain special rules for federal income tax purposes that would permit approximately $9.0 billion of the federal NOL Carryforwards to be utilized without regard to the annual limitation generally imposed by Section 382, there can be no assurance that these special rules will apply.

Moreover, an ownership change subsequent to the Debtors’ emergence from bankruptcy may further limit or effectively eliminate the ability to utilize the Debtors’ NOL Carryforwards and other tax attributes. To reduce the risk of a potential adverse effect on the Debtors’ ability to utilize the NOL Carryforwards, AAG's Certificate of Incorporation contains transfer restrictions applicable to certain substantial shareholders. Although the purpose of these transfer restrictions is to prevent an ownership change from occurring, there can be no assurance that an ownership change will not occur even with these transfer restrictions. A copy of AAG's Certificate of Incorporation was attached as Exhibit 3.1 to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 9, 2013.

Reorganization Items, Net

Reorganization items refer to revenues, expenses (including professional fees), realized gains and losses and provisions for losses that are realized or incurred in the Chapter 11 Cases. The following table summarizes the components included in reorganization items, net on the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2013 (in millions):



Aircraft and facility financing renegotiations and rejections ^{(1), (2)}	$	136
Professional fees	39
Other	(15		)
Total reorganization items, net	$	160

⁽¹⁾

Amounts include allowed claims (claims approved by the Bankruptcy Court) and estimated allowed claims relating to (i) the rejection or modification of financings related to aircraft and (ii) entry of orders treated as unsecured claims with respect to facility agreements supporting certain issuances of special facility revenue bonds. The Debtors recorded an estimated claim associated with the rejection or modification of a financing or facility agreement when the applicable motion was filed with the Bankruptcy Court to reject or modify such financing and the Debtors believed that it was probable the motion would be approved, and there was sufficient information to estimate the claim.


⁽²⁾	Pursuant to the Plan, the Debtors agreed to allow certain post-petition unsecured claims on obligations. As a result, during the three months ended March 31, 2013, the Company recorded reorganization charges to adjust estimated allowed claim amounts previously recorded on rejected special facility revenue bonds of $127 million, which are included in the table above.

AA [Member]

Reorganization [Line Items]

Emergence From Chapter 11 and Merger with US Airways Group

Emergence From Chapter 11

Overview

On November 29, 2011 (the Petition Date), AMR, its principal subsidiary, American Airlines, Inc. (American), and certain of AMR's other direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries (collectively, the Debtors), filed voluntary petitions for relief (the Chapter 11 Cases) under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the Bankruptcy Code) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Bankruptcy Court). On October 21, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order (the Confirmation Order) approving and confirming the Debtors' fourth amended joint plan of reorganization (as amended, the Plan).

On December 9, 2013 (the Effective Date), the Debtors consummated their reorganization pursuant to the Plan, principally through the transactions contemplated by that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended, the Merger Agreement), dated as of February 13, 2013, by and among AAG, AMR Merger Sub, Inc. (Merger Sub) and US Airways Group, Inc. (US Airways Group), pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into US Airways Group (the Merger), with US Airways Group surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AAG following the Merger. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each share of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of US Airways Group was converted into the right to receive one share of American Airlines Group common stock (AAG Common Stock), par value $0.01 per share.

Plan of Reorganization

The Plan implements the Merger and incorporates a compromise and settlement of certain intercreditor and intercompany claim issues.

The Plan contains the following provisions relating to the treatment of pre-petition claims against the Debtors and other holders of allowed interests in the Debtors including AMR and American:


•	all secured claims against the Debtors have been reinstated;


•	allowed administrative claims, priority claims and convenience claims have been or will be paid in full in cash;


•	other holders of allowed pre-petition unsecured claims, holders of allowed interests and certain employees of AMR received or will receive 72% of AAG Common Stock (on a fully converted basis) authorized to be issued pursuant to the Plan and in connection with the Merger under the following provisions:

◦

all creditors holding Single-Dip Unsecured Claims were treated the same regardless of whether the claim was asserted against the AAG Debtors, the American Debtors, or other Debtors. As used herein, "Single-Dip Unsecured Claims" means the general unsecured claims against the Debtors that are not guaranteed by any other Debtor, other than the claims of the Debtors' labor unions representing mainline workers. Holders of Single-Dip Unsecured Claims received, at the Effective Date, a portion of their recovery in shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock and a right, subject to the trading price of AAG's common stock during the 120-day period after the Effective Date, to receive their remaining recovery in shares of AAG Common Stock 120 days after the Effective Date;

◦

holders of certain labor-related deemed claims and certain non-management, non-union employees as specified in the Plan received, at the Effective Date, the right to receive an allocation of shares of AAG Common Stock representing 23.6% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock ultimately distributed to holders of pre-petition general unsecured creditors against the Debtors. On the Effective Date, pursuant to the Plan, an initial allocation of approximately 39 million shares of AAG Common Stock was made related to these labor and employee groups, of which approximately 27 million shares were distributed on the Effective Date and approximately 13 million shares of which were withheld in connection with American making a cash payment of approximately $300 million for certain required withholding taxes;

◦

holders of allowed interests in AMR (primarily holders of AMR common stock existing immediately prior to the Effective Date) received, at the Effective Date, a distribution of approximately 26 million shares of AAG Common Stock representing 3.5% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock contemplated for issuance pursuant to the Plan and will receive additional shares of AAG Common Stock if, among other considerations, the trading price of AAG's common stock at various points during the 120-day period after the Effective Date provides for a full recovery to claimholders and other allowed priority interests; and

◦

The Plan contemplated the distribution of up to 756 million shares of common stock, however this amount will be reduced by approximately 20 million shares because certain tax withholdings for employees were paid in cash as permitted under the Plan. In accordance with the Plan, AAG issued the remaining shares of AAG Common Stock over the 120-day distribution period, subject to a disputed claims reserve. In addition, pursuant to the Plan, approximately 197 million common shares were distributed to holders of outstanding shares of US Airways Group common stock.

Pursuant to rulings of the Bankruptcy Court, the Plan has established a disputed claims reserve to hold shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock and AAG Common Stock reserved for issuance to disputed claimholders that ultimately become allowed Single-Dip general unsecured claimholders after emergence. The shares provided for under the Plan are determined based upon a disputed claims reserve amount of approximately $755 million, representing the maximum amount of additional allowable Single-Dip claims under the Plan's provisions. Approximately 16 million shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock are reserved for distribution to holders of disputed Single-Dip general unsecured claims whose claims ultimately become allowed. Approximately 18 million of additional new shares of AAG Common Stock were distributed into the reserve on April 10, 2014. As disputed claims are resolved, the claimants will receive distributions of shares from the reserve on the same basis as if such distributions had been made on or about the Effective Date. To the extent that any of the reserved shares remain undistributed upon resolution of the remaining disputed claims, such shares will not be returned to AAG but rather will be distributed by priority first, if necessary, to satisfy unsecured claims or labor-related obligations, and then to former AMR shareholders as of the Effective Date.

AAG is not required to distribute additional shares above the limits contemplated by the Plan described above.

In addition, from the Effective Date through March 31, 2014, American made the following cash disbursements under the Plan:


•	$385 million in cash to the Pension plans in connection with missed contributions to the pension plans during Chapter 11 and interest and penalty interest thereon;


•	$107 million in cash to holders in partial or full satisfaction of their claims, including to holders of administrative claims, and state and local priority tax claims;


•	$196 million in cure payments to holders of secured debt; and


•	Approximately $380 million for payroll taxes associated with equity distributions to employees.

Several parties have filed appeals seeking reconsideration of the Confirmation Order. Refer to Note 14 for more information.

As noted above, the reconciliation process with respect to the remaining claims will take considerable time post-emergence. American's estimates of the amounts of disputed claims that will ultimately become allowed Single-Dip General Unsecured Claims are included in Bankruptcy settlement obligations on American's condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2014. As these claims are resolved, or where better information becomes available and is evaluated, American will make adjustments to the liabilities recorded in American's condensed consolidated financial statements as appropriate. Any such adjustments could be material to American's financial position or results of operations in any given period.

Availability and Utilization of Net Operating Losses

Upon emergence from bankruptcy, American experienced an "ownership change" as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code which could potentially limit the ability to utilize certain tax attributes including American's substantial net operating losses (NOLs). The general limitation rules for a debtor in a bankruptcy case are liberalized where the ownership change occurs upon emergence from bankruptcy. While American anticipates taking advantage of certain special rules for federal income tax purposes that would permit approximately $9.5 billion of the federal NOL Carryforwards to be utilized without regard to the annual limitation generally imposed by Section 382, there can be no assurance that these special rules will apply.

Moreover, an ownership change subsequent to American's emergence from bankruptcy may further limit or effectively eliminate the ability to utilize American's NOL Carryforwards and other tax attributes. To reduce the risk of a potential adverse effect on American's ability to utilize the NOL Carryforwards, AAG's Certificate of Incorporation contains transfer restrictions applicable to certain substantial shareholders. Although the purpose of these transfer restrictions is to prevent an ownership change from occurring, there can be no assurance that an ownership change will not occur even with these transfer restrictions. A copy of AAG's Certificate of Incorporation was attached as Exhibit 3.1 to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by AAG with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 9, 2013.

Reorganization Items, Net



Aircraft and facility financing renegotiations and rejections ^{(1), (2)}	$	136
Professional fees	39
Other	(15		)
Total reorganization items, net	$	160

⁽¹⁾


⁽²⁾	Pursuant to the Plan, the Debtors agreed to allow certain post-petition unsecured claims on obligations. As a result, during the three months ended March 31, 2013, American recorded reorganization charges to adjust estimated allowed claim amounts previously recorded on rejected special facility revenue bonds of $127 million, which are included in the table above.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the description and amounts of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

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