Delta, rival, creditors discuss bid

ATLANTA — Top executives of US Airways spent several hours Thursday trying to explain to Delta and the bankrupt carrier's unsecured creditors committee why its $8.5 billion offer to buy Delta would be better than Delta's stand-alone plan.

US Airways Group Inc. officials, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Delta's creditors committee were represented at the meeting in New York, the sides' first since the bid was announced Nov. 15, US Airways said in a statement.

The company's chief executive, Doug Parker, said there were discussions about many facets of the proposal during the meeting. He did not elaborate on how long the meeting lasted, what was said or what kind of reception US Airways received.

Delta officials also refused to provide further details on the meeting. A lawyer for the creditors committee did not return several phone calls seeking comment.

Delta, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, has said repeatedly it is opposed to a merger and that it hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the first half of next year as a stand-alone company.

Delta said in a statement after the meeting that while it was obligated to listen to US Airways, its position has not changed.

The airline said it will "continue to progress toward filing our stand-alone plan by the end of the year, which would have us emerge from bankruptcy as a highly competitive, independent and financially sound airline by mid-2007. Our plan is working and we have tremendous, hard-won confidence in it."

Parker said US Airways, based in Tempe, Ariz., has other ideas.

"While we recognize the steps that Delta management has taken, we are confident that our proposal for a 'New' Delta will create more value than a stand-alone plan," Parker said in his statement after the meeting.

Also Thursday, Delta reported that it narrowed its loss in October to $88 million.

The nation's third-largest carrier said its loss was equivalent to 45 cents a share in the 31-day period and was smaller than its loss of $301 million for the same month last year. It did not provide a per-share figure for the loss a year ago.

Excluding reorganization items, Atlanta-based Delta said its latest loss was $64 million.

The company also said in a court filing that through the end of October, roughly 7,800 claims totaling $84 billion had been filed against Delta in the bankruptcy case. Delta has been working to reduce or disallow certain claims. Delta so far has objected to 880 claims totaling about $905 million, and it expects to make more objections in the future. The court has not ruled on any of the objections, Delta said.