America West and US Airways Receive ATSB Approval
July 22 2005 - 3:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
America West and US Airways Receive ATSB Approval PHOENIX, July 22
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- America West Holdings Corporation
(NYSE:AWA) and US Airways Group, Inc. (OTC:UAIRQ) (BULLETIN BOARD:
UAIRQ) today announced that they have received approval for their
planned merger from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board
(ATSB). Both America West Airlines and US Airways hold loans backed
by a federal guarantee from the ATSB. The carriers have been in
negotiations on the treatment of those loans under their proposed
merger. Pending final bankruptcy court and US Airways board
approval and upon close of the merger, the two airlines'
outstanding ATSB loan guarantees will be consolidated with payments
beginning September 2005 through September 2010. Final terms are
still being negotiated. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050223/LAW097LOGO) America
West Chairman and CEO Doug Parker stated, "We are grateful for the
Board's unanimous endorsement of our proposed merger with US
Airways. Today's announcement continues the positive momentum for
our planned merger and brings us one step closer to building a
stable future for our airlines." "We appreciate the ATSB working
closely with us to further our efforts to restructure US Airways
and preserve jobs while protecting the federal government's
interests. Their action today will enable the new US Airways to
become a stronger and more viable airline," said US Airways
President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce R. Lakefield. In
January 2002, America West Airlines, Inc. closed a $429 million
loan backed by a $380 million federal loan guarantee provided by
the ATSB. The current outstanding balance on this loan is $300
million. US Airways, Inc. received a $900 million loan guarantee
under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
from the ATSB in connection with a $1 billion term loan financing
that was funded on March 31, 2003. The current outstanding balance
of that airline's loan is $708 million. America West Holdings
Corporation is an aviation and travel services company. Wholly
owned subsidiary America West Airlines is the nation's second
largest low-fare carrier with 14,000 employees serving
approximately 60,000 customers a day in more than 90 destinations
in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica. US Airways is the
nation's seventh-largest airline, serving 181 communities in the
U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. US Airways,
US Airways Shuttle and the US Airways Express partner carriers
operate approximately 3,400 flights per day. (AWAG) FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS Certain of the statements contained herein should be
considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward
looking statements may be identified by words such as "may,"
"will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate,"
"plan," "could," "should," and "continue" and similar terms used in
connection with statements regarding the companies' outlook,
expected fuel costs, the RASM environment, and the companies'
respective expected 2005 financial performance. Such statements
include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of
the business combination transaction involving America West
Holdings Corporation ("America West") and US Airways Group, Inc.
("US Airways" and, together with America West, the "companies"),
including future financial and operating results, the companies'
plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements
that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the
current beliefs and expectations of America West and US Airways'
management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties
that could cause the companies' actual results and financial
position to differ materially from these statements. Such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: the
ability of the companies to obtain and maintain any necessary
financing for operations and other purposes, whether
debtor-in-possession financing, in the case of US Airways, or other
financing; the ability of the companies to maintain adequate
liquidity; the duration and extent of the current soft economic
conditions; the impact of global instability including the
continuing impact of the continued military presence in Iraq and
Afghanistan and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and the
potential impact of future hostilities, terrorist attacks,
infectious disease outbreaks or other global events; changes in
prevailing interest rates; the ability to attract and retain
qualified personnel; the ability of the companies to attract and
retain customers; the cyclical nature of the airline industry;
competitive practices in the industry, including significant fare
restructuring activities by major airlines; the impact of changes
in fuel prices; economic conditions; labor costs; security-related
and insurance costs; weather conditions; government legislation and
regulation; relations with unionized employees generally and the
impact and outcome of the labor negotiations; US Airways ability to
continue as a going concern; US Airways' ability to obtain court
approval with respect to motions in the Chapter 11 proceedings
prosecuted by it from time to time; the ability of US Airways to
develop, prosecute, confirm and consummate one or more plans of
reorganization with respect to the Chapter 11 proceedings; risks
associated with third parties seeking and obtaining court approval
to terminate or shorten the exclusivity period for US Airways to
propose and confirm one or more plans of reorganization, to appoint
a Chapter 11 trustee or to convert the cases to Chapter 7 cases;
the ability of US Airways to obtain and maintain normal terms with
vendors and service providers; US Airways' ability to maintain
contracts that are critical to its operations; the potential
adverse impact of the Chapter 11 proceedings on US Airways'
liquidity or results of operations; the ability of US Airways to
operate pursuant to the terms of its financing facilities
(particularly the financial covenants); the ability of US Airways
to fund and execute its Transformation Plan during the Chapter 11
proceedings and in the context of a plan of reorganization and
thereafter; and other risks and uncertainties listed from time to
time in the companies' reports to the SEC. There may be other
factors not identified above of which the companies are not
currently aware that may affect matters discussed in the
forward-looking statements, and may also cause actual results to
differ materially from those discussed. The companies assume no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to
reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other
factors affecting such estimates other than as required by law.
Similarly, these and other factors, including the terms of any
reorganization plan of US Airways ultimately confirmed, can affect
the value of the US Airways' various prepetition liabilities,
common stock and/or other equity securities. Accordingly, the
companies urge that the appropriate caution be exercised with
respect to existing and future investments in any of these
liabilities and/or securities. Additional factors that may affect
the future results of America West and US Airways are set forth in
their respective filings with the SEC, which are available at
http://www.shareholder.com/americawest/edgar.cfm and
http://investor.usairways.com/edgar.cfm, respectively. ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT In connection with the proposed
transaction, US Airways has filed a registration statement,
including a proxy statement of America West, and other materials
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). WE URGE
INVESTORS TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND PROXY STATEMENT
AND THESE OTHER MATERIALS CAREFULLY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors may
obtain free copies of the registration statement and proxy
statement, as well as other filed documents containing information
about US Airways and America West at http://www.sec.gov/, the SEC's
website. Free copies of America West's SEC filings are also
available on America West's website at
http://www.shareholder.com/americawest/edgar.cfm, or by request to
Investor Relations, America West Holdings Corporation, 111 West Rio
Salado Pkwy, Tempe, Arizona 85281. Free copies of US Airways' SEC
filings are also available on US Airways' website at
http://investor.usairways.com/edgar.cfm or by request to Investor
Relations, US Airways Group, Inc., 2345 Crystal Drive, Arlington,
VA 22224. This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell
or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall
there by any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such
offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration
or qualification under the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by
means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended. PARTICIPANTS IN THE
SOLICITATION America West, US Airways and their respective
executive officers and directors may be deemed, under SEC rules, to
be participants in the solicitation of proxies from America West's
stockholders with respect to the proposed transaction. Information
regarding the officers and directors of America West is included in
its definitive proxy statement for its 2005 Annual Meeting filed
with the SEC on April 15, 2005. Information regarding the officers
and directors of US Airways is included in its 2004 Annual Report
filed with the SEC on Form 10-K on March 1, 2005. More detailed
information regarding the identity of potential participants, and
their interests in the solicitation, is set forth in the
registration statement and proxy statement and other materials
filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050223/LAW097LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: America West Holdings
Corporation; US Airways Group, Inc. CONTACT: America West Holdings
Corp., +1-480-693-5729; or US Airways Group, Inc., +1-703-872-5100
Web site: http://www.shareholder.com/americawest/edgar.cfm
http://investor.usairways.com/edgar.cfm
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