There was another get-together in the courtroom of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris Tuesday.
Mesa Air Group was granted a limited stay — until Monday — before he makes a final determination on the amount of the bond Mesa Air Group will be forced to post — a result of his recent ruling against Mesa. As you recall, Faris ruled at the end of October that Mesa must pay Hawaiian Airlines $80 million in damages in addition to interest and attorney fees, as a result of his finding that Mesa was guilty of using confidential information obtained as a potential investor during the Hawaiian bankruptcy — in an effort to gain an advantage in entering the Hawaiian market with its “go!” operation.
Faris said yesterday that Mesa will have to post the bond before a motion for a new trial is heard, and that the amount of the bond will be closer to the $98 million that Hawaiian Airlines is asking for, rather than the $85 million Mesa was proposing.
Hawaiian argued Tuesday that Mesa should have to post a $98 million bond because it could take as long as three years to prosecute the case on appeal.
According to the Star-Bulletin’s take on the hearing, Judge Faris called the three-year time frame, “conservative.” He also made the comment that “Statistically, a motion for a new trial is less likely to be granted.”
Mesa said if its motion for a new trial is denied, it will appeal to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit.
A hearing on Mesa’s motion for a new trial has been rescheduled to Dec. 13.
Again, according to Dave Segal’s article, Mesa argued that it has just under $200 million in cash and securities and that Hawaiian was not facing any risk by having the bond put off for up to a month until Faris rules on the motion for a new trial.
But Hawaiian Airlines attorney Sidney Levinson argued that Hawaiian Airlines shouldn’t have to take a risk at all, and that the payments might not be recoverable if Mesa files for the”B” word.
Yep — bankruptcy.
Evan Jones, an attorney for Mesa told the court that there was no possibility Mesa could file for bankruptcy.
While that may be the case, I think maybe some on Wall Street may have been a bit spooked by this little exchange, because shares of Mesa took a rather sharp dip immediately following the opening bell. As of this writing, the shares have recovered somewhat, but are still down 2% for the day.
On another front, Mesa is apparently sparing no expense to fight this latest battle, as yesterday they were represented in court by Daniel Petrocelli. Petrocelli is Los Angeles-based, and is probably most known for his successful representation of the Goldman family in their civil suit against O.J. Simpson. Petrocelli also represented Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. That one didn’t go so well, as the jury found Skilling guilty on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors. Mr, Skilling is now serving a 24 year Federal prison term.
So for now — it looks like the details of the bond that Mesa will need to post will be decided next Monday, and its request for a new trial will be addressed on December 13.
No word yet as to whether Court TV will now start covering the hearings as a result of Mr. Petrocelli’s presence.
Ticker: (MESA:Nasdaq), (HA:AMEX)
Technorati Tags: airline industry news, airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Mesa Air Group
