"Mid-America Airport Taking the Assets of Bankrupt Air Carrier"

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Mid-America Airport Taking the Assets of Bankrupt Air Carrier
The DuQuoin (IL) Evening Call


MidAmerica Airport near Mascoutah, IL. asked a federal bankruptcy judge
Wednesday to allow it to take possession of spare parts and equipment Great
Plains Airlines used to service its propjets.

The parts and equipment were collateral in $750,000 in loans St. Clair
County, Ill., granted to the airline in August to allow it to lease jets and
begin flights to the airport in Mascoutah, Ill., which is about an hour east
of St. Louis.

In its request filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tulsa, MidAmerica said
Great Plains does not need the parts and equipment in its Chapter 11
reorganization and that the airport's interest in the property is not
sufficiently protected. MidAmerica said it would sell the collateral, which
was not valued in the filing.

Great Plains filed for bankruptcy Jan. 23, canceling all scheduled service.
Charter service ended Feb. 22 after Bankruptcy Judge Dana Rasure allowed
leasing agents to repossess three of the airlines' aircraft.

The three Fairchild Dornier 328 propjets leased with help from St. Clair
County also served Chicago Midway and Washington D.C. Dulles Great Plains'
first coastal destination.

St. Clair County also spent $600,000 on marketing and promotions for the
short-lived flights.

Great Plains' other two Fairchild Dorniers and their Pratt & Whitney engines
were repossessed in March by Union Planters Bank, which had loaned the
carrier $19.6 million.

Great Plains launched in April 2001, with about $57 million in tax credits
and government-backed loans. Officials hoped the carrier would fill a void
of direct flights from Oklahoma City and Tulsa to business centers on the
coasts.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************