Pinnacle Airlines

A bankruptcy-court judge on Wednesday cleared regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (PNCLQ) to leave Chapter 11 as a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), a decision that streamlines Pinnacle's operations and costs in an increasingly consolidating airline industry."There was a time where the future of this case was in doubt," said Judge Robert E. Gerber of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, referring to moments earlier in the case where Pinnacle would have likely folded without loans from Delta, its only substantial creditor and customer.Pinnacle said it expects to be out of bankruptcy by May 1, and that the only regulatory approval it needed--an obscure one from the U.S. Department of Transportation--won't delay the deal."It has been a rather turbulent last 12 months for us," said Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP's Damian S. Schaible, a lawyer for Pinnacle, which filed for Chapter 11 protection last April.Pinnacle used its bankruptcy to cut deals with its three main unions that call for de...

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