Emergence from Chapter 11

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

2. Emergence from Chapter 11

Overview

On November 29, 2011 (the Petition Date), AMR Corporation (AMR, renamed American Airlines Group Inc., upon the closing of the Merger), its principal subsidiary, American, and certain of AMR’s other direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries (collectively, the Debtors), filed voluntary petitions for relief (the Chapter 11 Cases) under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the Bankruptcy Code) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Bankruptcy Court). On October 21, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order (the Confirmation Order) approving and confirming the Debtors’ fourth amended joint plan of reorganization (as amended, the Plan).

On December 9, 2013 (the Effective Date), the Debtors consummated their reorganization pursuant to the Plan, principally through the transactions contemplated by an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended, the Merger Agreement), dated as of February 13, 2013, by and among AMR, AMR Merger Sub, Inc. (Merger Sub) and US Airways Group, pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into US Airways Group (the Merger), with US Airways Group surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company following the Merger. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each share of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of US Airways Group was converted into the right to receive one share of AAG common stock, par value $0.01 per share (AAG Common Stock).

From the Petition Date through the Effective Date, pursuant to automatic stay provisions under the Bankruptcy Code and orders granted by the Bankruptcy Court, all actions to enforce or otherwise effect repayment of liabilities preceding the Petition Date as well as all pending litigation against the Debtors generally were stayed. Following the Effective Date, actions to enforce or otherwise effect repayment of liabilities preceding the Petition Date generally have been permanently enjoined. Any unresolved claims will continue to be subject to the claims reconciliation process under the supervision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. However, certain pending litigation related to pre-petition liabilities may proceed in courts other than the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to the extent the parties to such litigation have obtained relief from the permanent injunction.

Plan of Reorganization

The Plan implements the Merger and incorporates a compromise and settlement of certain intercreditor and intercompany claim issues.

Pursuant to the Plan, all shares of AMR common stock outstanding prior to the Effective Date were canceled. AAG’s Certificate of Incorporation, which was approved in connection with the Plan, authorizes the issuance of 1.75 billion new shares of AAG Common Stock and 200 million shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (AAG Series A Preferred Stock). Of the authorized AAG Series A Preferred Stock, approximately 168 million shares were designated “Series A Convertible Preferred Stock,” with a stated value of $25.00 per share, and issued in accordance with the Plan. AAG Common Stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “AAL” and began trading on December 9, 2013. AAG Series A Preferred Stock was listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “AALCP” from December 9, 2013 until its final mandatory conversion on April 8, 2014. In addition, the 2013 Incentive Award Plan (the 2013 Plan) authorizes the grant of awards for the issuance of 40 million shares of AAG Common Stock plus any shares underlying awards granted under the 2013 Plan, or any pre-existing US Airways Group plan, that are forfeited, terminate or are cash settled (in whole or in part) without a payment being made in the form of shares. In addition, any shares that were available for issuance under the US Airways Group 2011 Incentive Award Plan (the 2011 Plan) as of the effective date of the Merger may be used for awards under the 2013 Plan; provided, that awards using such available shares shall not be made after the date awards or grants could have been made under 2011 Plan and shall only be made to individuals who were not providing services to AMR prior to the Merger.

The Plan contains the following provisions relating to the treatment of pre-petition claims against the Debtors and other holders of allowed interests in the Debtors:

•

all secured claims against the Debtors have been reinstated;

•

allowed administrative claims, priority claims and convenience claims have been or will be paid in full in cash;

•

other holders of allowed pre-petition unsecured claims, holders of allowed interests and certain employees of AMR received or will receive 72% of AAG Common Stock (on a fully converted basis) authorized to be issued pursuant to the Plan and in connection with the Merger under the following provisions:

•

all creditors holding general unsecured claims against American that are guaranteed by AAG and general unsecured claims against AAG that are guaranteed by American (Double-Dip Unsecured Claims) were treated the same under the Plan. Holders of Double-Dip Unsecured Claims received, at the Effective Date, their recovery in shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock with a stated amount equal to the allowed amount of their claims, including post-petition interest at the non-default rate;

•

all creditors holding Single-Dip Unsecured Claims were treated the same regardless of whether the claim was asserted against the AAG Debtors, the American Debtors, or other Debtors. As used herein, “Single-Dip Unsecured Claims” means the general unsecured claims against the Debtors that were not guaranteed by any other Debtor, other than the claims of the Debtors’ labor unions representing mainline workers. Holders of Single-Dip Unsecured Claims received a portion of their recovery in shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock at the Effective Date and their remaining recovery in shares of AAG Common Stock during the 120-day period after the Effective Date;

•

holders of certain labor-related deemed claims and certain non-management, non-union employees as specified in the Plan received, at the Effective Date, the right to receive an allocation of shares of AAG Common Stock representing 23.6% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock ultimately distributed to holders of pre-petition general unsecured creditors against the Debtors. On the Effective Date, pursuant to the Plan, an initial allocation of approximately 39 million shares of AAG Common Stock was made related to these labor and employee groups, of which approximately 27 million shares were distributed on the Effective Date and approximately 13 million shares of which were withheld in connection with the Company making a cash payment of approximately $300 million for certain required withholding taxes;

•

holders of allowed interests in AMR (primarily holders of AMR common stock existing immediately prior to the Effective Date) received, at the Effective Date, a distribution of approximately 26 million shares of AAG Common Stock representing 3.5% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock contemplated for issuance pursuant to the Plan and received an additional 267 million shares of AAG Common Stock during the 120-day period after the Effective Date; and

•

holders of disputed claims at the Effective Date, to the extent such disputed claims become allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims after the Effective Date, are eligible to receive shares of AAG Common Stock held in reserve (the Disputed Claims Reserve), beginning 180 days after the Effective Date. Disputed claimholders that subsequently become holders of Single-Dip Unsecured Claims will receive, subject to the availability of sufficient shares in the Disputed Claims Reserve, the number of shares of AAG Common Stock that the disputed claimholder would have received had such claimholder been a holder of Single-Dip Unsecured Claims as of the Effective Date.

The Plan contemplated the distribution of up to 756 million shares of AAG Common Stock, however this amount was reduced by approximately 20 million shares because certain tax withholdings for employees were paid in cash as permitted under the Plan. In accordance with the Plan, the Company issued the remaining shares of AAG Common Stock over the 120-day distribution period, except for shares held in the Disputed Claims Reserve. In addition, pursuant to the Plan, approximately 197 million shares of AAG Common Stock were distributed to holders of outstanding shares of US Airways Group common stock.

The AAG Series A Preferred Stock, while outstanding, voted and participated in accordance with the terms of the underlying Certificate of Designation. One quarter of the shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock initially issued was mandatorily convertible on each of the 30th, 60th, 90th and 120th days after the Effective Date, subject to additional voluntary conversions. The initial stated value of each share of AAG Series A Preferred Stock was $25.00 and accrued dividends at 6.25% per annum, calculated daily, while outstanding. Additionally, AAG Series A Preferred Stock converted to AAG Common Stock based upon the volume weighted average price of the shares of AAG Common Stock on the five trading days immediately preceding the conversion date, at a 3.5% fixed discount, subject to a conversion price floor of $10.875 per share and a conversion price cap of $33.8080 per share, below or above which the conversion rate remains fixed. As of April 8, 2014, all shares of AAG Series A Preferred Stock had been converted into AAG Common Stock.

Pursuant to rulings of the Bankruptcy Court, the Plan established the Disputed Claims Reserve that was initially issued 30.4 million shares of AAG Common Stock reserved for issuance to disputed claimholders at the Effective Date that ultimately become holders of allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims (Single-Dip Equity Obligations) as well as to certain AMR labor groups and employees who received a deemed claim amount based upon a fixed percentage of the distributions to be made to general unsecured claimholders. As of December 31, 2014, the Disputed Claims Reserve held 26.8 million shares of AAG Common Stock pending distribution of those shares in accordance with the Plan. On February 10, 2015, approximately 0.8 million shares of AAG Common Stock held in the Disputed Claims Reserve were distributed to holders of allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims, to holders of certain labor-related deemed claims, and to holders of certain non-management, non-union employee deemed claims as specified in the Plan, and the Company repurchased less than 0.1 million shares of AAG Common Stock for an aggregate of $4 million from the Disputed Claims Reserve at the then-prevailing market price in order to fund cash tax obligations resulting from this distribution. On July 14, 2015, approximately 0.6 million shares of AAG Common Stock held in the Disputed Claims Reserve were distributed to holders of allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims, to holders of certain labor-related deemed claims, and to holders of certain non-management, non-union employee deemed claims as specified in the Plan, and the Company repurchased less than 0.1 million shares of AAG Common Stock for an aggregate of $2 million from the Disputed Claims Reserve at the then-prevailing market price in order to fund cash tax obligations resulting from this distribution. As of December 31, 2015, there were approximately 25.3 million shares of AAG Common Stock remaining in the Disputed Claims Reserve. As disputed claims are resolved, the claimants will receive distributions of shares from the Disputed Claims Reserve on the same basis as if such distributions had been made on or about the Effective Date. To the extent that any of the reserved shares remain undistributed upon resolution of all remaining disputed claims, such shares will not be returned to the Company but rather will be distributed to former AMR stockholders as of the Effective Date. The Company is not required to distribute additional shares above the limits contemplated by the Plan described above.

In addition, from the Effective Date through December 31, 2015, the Company has made the following cash disbursements under the Plan:

•

$385 million in cash to the pension plans in connection with missed contributions to the pension plans during the Chapter 11 Cases and interest and penalty interest thereon;

•

$108 million in cash to holders in partial or full satisfaction of their claims, including to holders of administrative claims, and state and local priority tax claims;

•

$196 million in cure payments to holders of secured debt; and

•

Approximately $570 million for payroll and other taxes associated with equity distributions to employees and distributions from the Disputed Claims Reserve.

Several parties have filed appeals seeking reconsideration of the Confirmation Order. See Note 15 for more information.

The reconciliation process with respect to the remaining claims will take considerable time post-emergence. The Company’s estimate of the amounts of disputed claims that will ultimately become allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims are included in bankruptcy settlement obligations on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015. As these claims are resolved, or where better information becomes available and is evaluated, the Company will make adjustments to the liabilities recorded on the Company’s consolidated financial statements as appropriate. Any such adjustments could be material to the Company’s financial position or results of operations in any given period.

Availability and Utilization of Net Operating Losses

Upon emergence from bankruptcy, the Debtors experienced an “ownership change” as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Section 382), which could potentially limit the ability to utilize certain tax attributes including the Debtors’ substantial net operating losses (NOLs). The general limitation rules for a debtor in a bankruptcy case are liberalized where the ownership change occurs upon emergence from bankruptcy. The Debtors elected to be covered by certain special rules for federal income tax purposes that permitted approximately $9.0 billion (with $6.6 billion of unlimited NOL still remaining at December 31, 2015) of the federal NOLs carried over from prior taxable years (NOL Carryforwards) to be utilized without regard to the annual limitation generally imposed by Section 382. See Note 10 for additional information related to tax matters.

Moreover, an ownership change subsequent to the Debtors’ emergence from bankruptcy may further limit or effectively eliminate the ability to utilize the Debtors’ NOL Carryforwards and other tax attributes. To reduce the risk of a potential adverse effect on the Debtors’ ability to utilize the NOL Carryforwards, AAG’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the Certificate of Incorporation) contains transfer restrictions applicable to certain substantial stockholders. Although the purpose of these transfer restrictions is to prevent an ownership change from occurring, there can be no assurance that an ownership change will not occur even with these transfer restrictions. A copy of the Certificate of Incorporation was attached as Exhibit 3.1 to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Company with the SEC on December 9, 2013.

Reorganization Items, Net

Reorganization items refer to revenues, expenses (including professional fees), realized gains and losses and provisions for losses that are realized or incurred in the Chapter 11 Cases. The following table summarizes the components included in reorganization items, net on the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2013 (in millions):


	December 31, 2013
Labor-related deemed claim (1)	$	1,733
Aircraft and facility financing renegotiations and rejections (2),(3)		325
Fair value of conversion discount (4)		218
Professional fees		199
Other		180

Total reorganization items, net	$	2,655

(1)

In exchange for employees’ contributions to the successful reorganization, including agreeing to reductions in pay and benefits, the Company agreed in the Plan to provide each employee group a deemed claim, which was used to provide a distribution of a portion of the equity of the reorganized entity to those employees. Each employee group received a deemed claim amount based upon a portion of the value of cost savings provided by that group through reductions to pay and benefits as well as through certain work rule changes. The total value of this deemed claim was approximately $1.7 billion.

(2)

Amounts include allowed claims (claims approved by the Bankruptcy Court) and estimated allowed claims relating to (i) the rejection or modification of financings related to aircraft and (ii) entry of orders treated as unsecured claims with respect to facility agreements supporting certain issuances of special facility revenue bonds. The Debtors recorded an estimated claim associated with the rejection or modification of a financing or facility agreement when the applicable motion was filed with the Bankruptcy Court to reject or modify such financing or facility agreement and the Debtors believed that it was probable the motion would be approved, and there was sufficient information to estimate the claim.

(3)

Pursuant to the Plan, the Debtors agreed to allow certain post-petition unsecured claims on obligations. As a result, during the year ended December 31, 2013, the Company recorded reorganization charges to adjust estimated allowed claim amounts previously recorded on rejected special facility revenue bonds of $180 million, allowed general unsecured claims related to the 1990 and 1994 series of special facility revenue bonds that financed certain improvements at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and rejected bonds that financed certain improvements at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), which are included in the table above.

(4)	The Plan allowed unsecured creditors receiving AAG Series A Preferred Stock a conversion discount of 3.5%. Accordingly, the Company recorded the fair value of such discount upon the confirmation of the Plan by the Bankruptcy Court.

American Airlines, Inc. [Member]

Emergence from Chapter 11

2. Emergence from Chapter 11

Overview

On December 9, 2013 (the Effective Date), the Debtors consummated their reorganization pursuant to the Plan, principally through the transactions contemplated by an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended, the Merger Agreement), dated as of February 13, 2013, by and among AMR, AMR Merger Sub, Inc. (Merger Sub) and US Airways Group, pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into US Airways Group (the Merger), with US Airways Group surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AAG following the Merger. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each share of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of US Airways Group was converted into the right to receive one share of AAG common stock, par value $0.01 per share (AAG Common Stock).

Plan of Reorganization

The Plan implements the Merger and incorporates a compromise and settlement of certain intercreditor and intercompany claim issues.

The Plan contains the following provisions relating to the treatment of pre-petition claims against the Debtors and other holders of allowed interests in the Debtors:

•

all secured claims against the Debtors have been reinstated;

•

allowed administrative claims, priority claims and convenience claims have been or will be paid in full in cash;

•

holders of certain labor-related deemed claims and certain non-management, non-union employees as specified in the Plan received, at the Effective Date, the right to receive an allocation of shares of AAG Common Stock representing 23.6% of the total number of shares of AAG Common Stock ultimately distributed to holders of pre-petition general unsecured creditors against the Debtors. On the Effective Date, pursuant to the Plan, an initial allocation of approximately 39 million shares of AAG Common Stock was made related to these labor and employee groups, of which approximately 27 million shares were distributed on the Effective Date and approximately 13 million shares of which were withheld in connection with American making a cash payment of approximately $300 million for certain required withholding taxes;

•

The Plan contemplated the distribution of up to 756 million shares of AAG Common Stock, however this amount was reduced by approximately 20 million shares because certain tax withholdings for employees were paid in cash as permitted under the Plan. In accordance with the Plan, AAG issued the remaining shares of AAG Common Stock over the 120-day distribution period, except for shares held in the Disputed Claims Reserve. In addition, pursuant to the Plan, approximately 197 million shares of AAG Common Stock were distributed to holders of outstanding shares of US Airways Group common stock.

Pursuant to rulings of the Bankruptcy Court, the Plan established the Disputed Claims Reserve that was initially issued 30.4 million shares of AAG Common Stock reserved for issuance to disputed claimholders at the Effective Date that ultimately become holders of allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims (Single-Dip Equity Obligations) as well as to certain AMR labor groups and employees who received a deemed claim amount based upon a fixed percentage of the distributions to be made to general unsecured claimholders. As of December 31, 2014, the Disputed Claims Reserve held 26.8 million shares of AAG Common Stock pending distribution of those shares in accordance with the Plan. On February 10, 2015, approximately 0.8 million shares of AAG Common Stock held in the Disputed Claims Reserve were distributed to holders of allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims, to holders of certain labor-related deemed claims, and to holders of certain non-management, non-union employee deemed claims as specified in the Plan, and American repurchased less than 0.1 million shares of AAG Common Stock for an aggregate of $4 million from the Disputed Claims Reserve at the then-prevailing market price in order to fund cash tax obligations resulting from this distribution. On July 14, 2015, approximately 0.6 million shares of AAG Common Stock held in the Disputed Claims Reserve were distributed to holders of allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims, to holders of certain labor-related deemed claims, and to holders of certain non-management, non-union employee deemed claims as specified in the Plan, and American repurchased less than 0.1 million shares of AAG Common Stock for an aggregate of $2 million from the Disputed Claims Reserve at the then-prevailing market price in order to fund cash tax obligations resulting from this distribution. As of December 31, 2015, there were approximately 25.3 million shares of AAG Common Stock remaining in the Disputed Claims Reserve. As disputed claims are resolved, the claimants will receive distributions of shares from the Disputed Claims Reserve on the same basis as if such distributions had been made on or about the Effective Date. To the extent that any of the reserved shares remain undistributed upon resolution of all remaining disputed claims, such shares will not be returned to AAG but rather will be distributed to former AMR stockholders as of the Effective Date. AAG is not required to distribute additional shares above the limits contemplated by the Plan described above.

In addition, from the Effective Date through December 31, 2015, American has made the following cash disbursements under the Plan:

•

$385 million in cash to the pension plans in connection with missed contributions to the pension plans during the Chapter 11 Cases and interest and penalty interest thereon;

•

$108 million in cash to holders in partial or full satisfaction of their claims, including to holders of administrative claims, and state and local priority tax claims;

•

$196 million in cure payments to holders of secured debt; and

•

Approximately $570 million for payroll and other taxes associated with equity distributions to employees and distributions from the Disputed Claims Reserve.

Several parties have filed appeals seeking reconsideration of the Confirmation Order. See Note 13 for more information.

The reconciliation process with respect to the remaining claims will take considerable time post-emergence. American’s estimate of the amounts of disputed claims that will ultimately become allowed Single-Dip Unsecured Claims are included in bankruptcy settlement obligations on American’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015. As these claims are resolved, or where better information becomes available and is evaluated, American will make adjustments to the liabilities recorded on American’s consolidated financial statements as appropriate. Any such adjustments could be material to American’s financial position or results of operations in any given period.

Availability and Utilization of Net Operating Losses

Upon emergence from bankruptcy, American experienced an “ownership change” as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Section 382), which could potentially limit the ability to utilize certain tax attributes including American’s substantial net operating losses (NOLs). The general limitation rules for a debtor in a bankruptcy case are liberalized where the ownership change occurs upon emergence from bankruptcy. American elected to be covered by certain special rules for federal income tax purposes that permitted approximately $9.5 billion (with $7.3 billion of unlimited NOL still remaining at December 31, 2015) of the federal NOLs carried over from prior taxable years (NOL Carryforwards) to be utilized without regard to the annual limitation generally imposed by Section 382. See Note 8 for additional information related to tax matters.

Moreover, an ownership change subsequent to American’s emergence from bankruptcy may further limit or effectively eliminate the ability to utilize American’s NOL Carryforwards and other tax attributes. To reduce the risk of a potential adverse effect on American’s ability to utilize the NOL Carryforwards, AAG’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the Certificate of Incorporation) contains transfer restrictions applicable to certain substantial stockholders. Although the purpose of these transfer restrictions is to prevent an ownership change from occurring, there can be no assurance that an ownership change will not occur even with these transfer restrictions. A copy of the Certificate of Incorporation was attached as Exhibit 3.1 to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by AAG with the SEC on December 9, 2013.

Reorganization Items, Net


	December 31, 2013
Labor-related deemed claim (1)	$	1,733
Aircraft and facility financing renegotiations and rejections (2),(3)		320
Fair value of conversion discount (4)		218
Professional fees		199
Other		170

Total reorganization items, net	$	2,640

(1)

In exchange for employees’ contributions to the successful reorganization, including agreeing to reductions in pay and benefits, American agreed in the Plan to provide each employee group a deemed claim, which was used to provide a distribution of a portion of the equity of the reorganized entity to those employees. Each employee group received a deemed claim amount based upon a portion of the value of cost savings provided by that group through reductions to pay and benefits as well as through certain work rule changes. The total value of this deemed claim was approximately $1.7 billion.

(2)

(3)

Pursuant to the Plan, the Debtors agreed to allow certain post-petition unsecured claims on obligations. As a result, during the year ended December 31, 2013, American recorded reorganization charges to adjust estimated allowed claim amounts previously recorded on rejected special facility revenue bonds of $180 million, allowed general unsecured claims related to the 1990 and 1994 series of special facility revenue bonds that financed certain improvements at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and rejected bonds that financed certain improvements at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), which are included in the table above.

(4)	The Plan allowed unsecured creditors receiving AAG Series A Preferred Stock a conversion discount of 3.5%. Accordingly, American recorded the fair value of such discount upon the confirmation of the Plan by the Bankruptcy Court.