In Re Air National Aircraft Sales & Service, Inc.

53 B.R. 310, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5286
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 23, 1985
Docket8-19-71102
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 53 B.R. 310 (In Re Air National Aircraft Sales & Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Air National Aircraft Sales & Service, Inc., 53 B.R. 310, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5286 (N.Y. 1985).

Opinion

DECISION

CONRAD B. DUBERSTEIN, Chief Judge.

These proceedings, spawned by a bankruptcy case fraught with a multitude of complicated problems involving the debtor, both before and after it filed its petition for relief under Chapter 11, is typical of those where the bankruptcy court is required to engage in a full examination and analysis of the debtor’s affairs in the course of its decision. As will be seen as the saga of its problems enfolds, the debtor, which is engaged in the business of operating aircraft for charter tours, has been in courts in almost as many cities in this country in which it may have landed its planes in the relatively short period of its existence. When it finally found that the bankruptcy court here is where it should have gone to in the first place, its corporate existence was in such a precarious condition that it was required to seek, on very short notice, emergency relief which is the subject of this decision.

The principal relief sought by the debtor was the enforcement of the benefits of the automatic stay provisions of the bankruptcy law so as to enjoin and prevent the interference and the use by it of its major asset, a leased aircraft, to enable it to effect a reorganization of its affairs. Because the circumstances surrounding -the application for relief required this court to provide for an expedited hearing, it proceeded without delay, heard all of the parties, made findings and conclusions upon the completion of the argument, and rendered an oral decision which denied the debtor’s application. This court’s findings and conclusions of law as well as its bench decision is contained in the transcript of the hearing on the application. However, inasmuch as this court has been informed that the debtor has appealed the decision, this written opinion is rendered to provide any appellate reviewing tribunal with the essential facts so as to enable it to conclude whether or not the facts as found by this court and its conclusions of law were properly applied in the determination of the issues involved.

The Application Before This Court

This is a motion brought by way of an order to show cause by Air National Aircraft Sales and Service, Inc. (the “debtor”) for an order pursuant to § 105 and § 362 of the Bankruptcy Code staying the continuation of proceedings by Salenia A.B. of Norlands Gaton, Stockholm, Sweden (the “lessor”) against the debtor in an action brought by the lessor in the Circuit Court of Platte County of the State of Missouri. The action arose out of a lease of a certain aircraft from the lessor to the debtor as lessee. The motion further seeks to stay the implementation of an order of that court which declared that the debtor has no interest under the lease, declaring that the order is void and in violation of the automatic stay provisions of § 362 of the Bankruptcy Code, directing the lessor post a bond in the sum of $1,000,000, permitting the debtor to assume the lease, and holding the lessor in contempt for violation of the § 362 automatic stay. As appears at the outset of this opinion, the motion was orally denied. This written opinion reaffirms that decision.

Background

This bankruptcy case, which gave rise to the application before this court was originally commenced in the United States *312 Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, when the debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code there on September 12, 1984. The case was transferred to Honorable Bert W. Thompson, United States Bankruptcy Judge. As will be seen later in the course of this opinion after considering various matters relating to the debtor, Judge Thompson entered an order on January 8, 1985 transferring the venue of the case from the Western District of Texas to the Southern District of New York. The transfer to that court was apparently based on a misapprehension by counsel that the debtor’s premises at Kennedy Airport were located in the Southern District of New York, when in fact they were located in the Eastern District of New York. The case was then transferred here to the Eastern District of New York where it is presently pending. Inasmuch as this court received from the Bankruptcy Court in Texas its entire file relating to this case as well as documents with respect to litigation and transactions between the debtor and the lessor, all of whieh were reviewed in the course of making its findings of fact which gave rise to its conclusions of law, this court provides the following background which it considered in its determination that the requested relief should not be granted and which resulted in the denial of the debtor’s application.

Prior to the commencement of its bankruptcy case which arose from the filing of its petition for relief under Chapter 11 filed in Texas, which was ultimately transferred to this court as appears above, the debtor was a charter airline operating a Boeing 747 aircraft bearing Luxembourg registration, under a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board. The aircraft, which is the subject of the debtor’s application, was leased by the debtor from the lessor pursuant to a formal written Aircraft Lease Agreement and Addendum dated May 22, 1984. Following a dispute between the debtor and the lessor, the latter commenced a series of proceedings long before the bankruptcy to recover the aircraft. The initial proceeding which was in the state court in Florida, was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. Thereafter, and again prior to the institution of the bankruptcy case, the lessor commenced an action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, to recover the aircraft. On July 19, 1984, the lessor moved in that action for a Declaratory Judgment and Writ of Prejudgment Attachment. However, before the court could move on the motion, the action was removed to the Circuit Court of Platte County of the State of Missouri, where it was referred to Honorable John M. Yeaman, a Judge of that court. The lessor then moved for a Declaratory Judgment and a Writ of Prejudgment Attachment in that action. On July 26, 1984, Judge Yeaman entered a Prejudgment Order attaching the aircraft.

On July 31, 1984, Judge Yeaman denied the debtor’s motion to dissolve the Writ of Attachment after a hearing at which the parties were represented by counsel and evidence was presented. He ordered that the debtor could regain possession of the aircraft if it complied with the terms of the Lease Agreements, as well as with additional requirements which he imposed. These included the payment of monies due to Trans World Airlines (“TWA”) for services rendered the lessee, the prevention of lapses of insurance on the aircraft, the deposit with his court of $500,000 as security, and the payment of the monthly rental arising under the Lease in the sum of $306,666.60 on or before August 1, 1984.

On August 2, 1984 Judge Yeaman found that the debtor had failed to comply with his aforesaid order of July 31, 1984. Consequently, on August 3, 1984, he signed an order granting the lessor “unfettered use and possession of the ... aircraft” upon its compliance with the following conditions:

a) satisfaction of TWA’s outstanding claim of $255,000; and
b) posting of a $1,000,000 surety bond.

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53 B.R. 310, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-air-national-aircraft-sales-service-inc-nyeb-1985.