America West Airlines emerged from bankruptcy this week promising to be a big player in a tight domestic market.
"America West's finances are now secure and the company is one of the major carriers in the United States, with the highest passenger load of any airline in the past 12 months," said Board Chairman William Franke.Franke also told a news conference an agreement to exchange and share routes and passenger benefits with Continental Airlines goes into effect Oct. 1, but no merger is planned.
Phoenix-based America West operates with 85 aircraft to 29 airports throughout the United States. It filed for protection from creditors 38 months ago, but emerged from bankruptcy because of a $214.9 million cash investment from AMWest Partners, L.P., which acquired 33.5 percent of the airline in return. AMWest also purchased 71.2 percent of the voting interest in the airline as part of the deal.
America West has 45 million shares outstanding.