Hawaiian Airlines bailout plan backed by Las Vegas firm

Janis L. Magin

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

HONOLULU -- One of three investment groups proposing bankruptcy reorganization plans for Hawaiian Airlines plans to boost the value of its proposal by $60 million with the help of a Las Vegas financial company.

Hawaiian Investment Partners Group said its partnership with USA Capital will bolster its $270 million plan to bring the airline out of bankruptcy submitted to U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week.

The plan calls for the airline's creditors to be repaid in full within two years, said Jerry Drelling, a spokesman for Hawaiian Investment Partners Group, who said in a statement Monday that no other plan has proposed to invest that amount of cash and pay off creditors as quickly.

But Joshua Gotbaum, the court-appointed trustee guiding the airline during bankruptcy, said the plan he has endorsed does more.

Gotbaum told the Associated Press that the proposal submitted by the airline's parent company, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., has a commitment of more than $160 million in cash from Ranch Capital as well as the support of the airline's unsecured creditors' committee.

"I think it's the best because it offers a full recovery for the creditors and preserves value for the shareholders," Gotbaum said. "What we're proposing is that most creditors ... will be offered full value for their claims in cash."

Honolulu-based Hawaiian filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2003. San Diego-based Ranch Capital LLC acquired 10 million shares of Hawaiian Holdings in June for $41.1 million.

Hearings will begin next month on the three plans submitted to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris.

Hawaiian Investment Partners Group's plan is also backed by the Hawaiian Reorganization Committee, which includes airline employees and small creditors, a pilot, investors and venture capitalists, and Robert Konop, a Hawaiian Airlines pilot who is a member of the committee.

The third plan was submitted to the court last month by Madison Air Partners LLC, a unit of New York-based investment banking firm Jefferies & Co.

Boeing Capital Corp., Hawaiian's primary aircraft lessor, and Corporate Recovery Group LLC had also submitted a plan, but last week notified the court they were withdrawing their joint bid.