Dan Quayle ruins World Airways and loots it.
Private equity firm Cerberus Business Finance, LLC, is looting a bankrupt airline that for 66 years ferried troops and equipment to war zones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Cerberus' greed has tragic consequences for pilots and flight attendants now without a job, a paycheck or health insurance.
Cerberus took control of the bankrupt airline, World Airways, and retroactively cancelled the pilots' health insurance coverage without telling them. A pilot who'd been with World for 25 years went into a coma thinking he was covered. When he came out of the coma, he found Cerberus had cancelled his health insurance -- and he owed $2 million for his medical care.
As president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, I have seen private equity firms plunder company after company, taking rich fees for themselves and cutting costs until there's nothing left to cut. Time and again I've seen their reckless behavior drive companies to declare bankruptcy. When the dust settles, you can count on Wall Street contracts being honored. And you can be pretty sure contracts with workers will be abrogated.
That's pretty much what's happening with World Airways, a passenger and cargo carrier that sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2013. The airline shut down on March 27, 2014 because it had no money. All employees were fired that day.
World Airways was a profitable company until another private equity firm, MatlinPatterson, came along and loaded it with debt. They collected handsome fees and interest until Cerberus -- run by former Vice President Dan Quayle and former Treasury Secretary John Snow -- threw the airline in the trash along with its employees. Many of the flight attendants and pilots had served their country and company since the Vietnam War.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-p-hoffa/cerberus-loots-bankrupt-a_b_5225964.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
- Thanks Obama.
K&R
- Mostly, yes!
...everyone on Wall Street and even the WH tries to claim they do, namely that they ''strengthen the market by culling out the weak'' -- then the obligation and commitments that these ''weak firms'' have made to their workers should have precedence over anything else, IMHO, upon liquidation. Not the custodians.
Morally, it's inescapable to conclude otherwise. ''The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'' Economically, one must conclude once again that the focus of the greater negative impact is clear, rather than any supposed benefit the market will gain from the elimination of assets into the pockets of Wall Street Pimps Inc.™
All we end up doing under the current laws and policies, is socializing the cost of doing bad business. We seem to be giving an incentive for management to play fast and loose with the company's assets because they'll bear no personal burden, only the workers do and the society at-large when the final tabs come in.
In a so-called ''civilized society,'' (again IMHO) there should be a price of admission into the marketplace. At minimum one must be required to follow the existing rules. But then, those rules are enforced by those we elect. Or, not. That is the question.
- So like I said mostly, but not completely.
I gotta get to sleep, too tired to read much past the first paragraph....it's past midnight. I'm turning into a pumpkin. 
But what I read so far was really worthwhile. Thank you! Gotta come back to it tomorrow.
acquired company with debt? How do they get away with that?
...then it must find a way to issue loans to sustain itself. Even to sick companies with one foot in the grave and the other foot on a banana peel. Don't worry, they have insurance companies to protect them from bad debts like AIG. So no worries since the market can take care of its own (in theory).
So a company in trouble needs help. Maybe they have a liquidity problem since most companies have to borrow just to operate these days, it can happen. But say the banks in the local area may be tapped out for commercial loans for this firm. Or maybe bad investments made by the management company renders them vulnerable to a takeover. Enter the private equity firm.
Private equity firms are touted as saviors but are actually the equivalent of a Mafia Loan Shark. Sharks who dress better and live in tonier neighborhoods. So in comes the ''saviors'' who themselves have borrowed money to make the acquisition of the firm. They immediately take those assets and starts selling them off or obligating them with debt instruments (land, equipment, employee pension funds, etc) which cash can now be used to help the firm? No. Insure employment stability? No. Provide long-term guidance and support for the future of the company? No. They can now guarantee more loans since they have all this cash-on-hand with this new entity, and voila! Instant cash bonuses for a job well done.
They keep doing this until the company can't take anymore debt. When the bankruptcy finally hits and everyone is thrown out of their jobs, ''The Law'' kicks in -- which has different priorities (their frat bros and golfing buddies) than normal people as to whom gets paid what, if at all. Thus you end up with the Courts, the Congress and the Executive all working together to screw the little guy on behalf of The Corporations. This is the kind of shit what passes for ''economic growth'' these days.
- And they call it the varsity rag. And it's all LEGAL.....
- One-stop shopping for arms, mercenaries, and all things that kill. These are some sick mofos and should be regarded as one does a venomous snake. With a big stick......
''Kill the head and the body will die......''
Seriously - thank you Jesus, Buddha, Muhammed, Allah, Krishna, Confucius, Joseph Smith, Xenu, Abraham, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster that Mitt Romney was not elected president. We need to lock up these vulture thieves and throw away the key, not prop them up on a global stage. 
I wonder how they sleep at night knowing they destroyed the economy.
told me how Cerberus almost did Chrysler in.
Mechanics see things from a different point of view that most of us can. They see the management reflected in the engineering and how the car was built--and thus the repairs. Because of the planning and execution of such plans, it isn't reflected immediately, but a mechanic who has worked in the business for a long time will be able to tell you things like that.
Cher
Vulture capitalism will destroy the world .
