=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2006/11/28/financial/= f090904S47.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, November 28, 2006 (AP) US Airways Plans Pitch for Delta Bid By HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer (11-28) 11:43 PST ATLANTA (AP) -- US Airways Group Inc. will pitch its $8.6 billion unsolicited offer for Delta Air Lines Inc. in a meeting this week with Delta and the committee representing the unsecured creditors in Delta's bankruptcy case, a lawyer for the committee said Tuesday. The lawyer, Daniel Golden, said in a telephone interview that the committee's advisers will be present at the meeting in New York, along with US Airways officials and Delta senior executives. Neither Golden nor spokesmen for Atlanta-based Delta and Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways would say what day the meeting will take place. Golden said the creditors committee will go into the meeting with an open mind, even as Delta has said it opposes a merger and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of next year as a standalone company. The head of Delta's pilots union has expressed support for Delta's plan. The union is a member of the creditors committee. "We have great respect for Delta's management," Golden said. "We think they've done a very good job in Chapter 11. But at the end of the day we're going to make a determination about what works best for the estate and the unsecured creditors." The meeting will be the first between all three sides since US Airways made its hostile bid for Delta public on Nov. 15. It will give US Airways an opportunity to pitch its offer directly to the creditors. "I assume they are going to explain their rationale for the plan and the synergies they suggest ... and the hurdles they see and how they intend to deal with those hurdles," Golden said. No timetable has been put on when the creditors committee will make a decision on whether it will support the US Airways offer or Delta's standalone plan, Golden said. Delta still must file its formal reorganization plan, which it expects to do by next month. Golden said the creditors will weigh the pros and cons of the offer against any other offers that may come in and the merits of Delta's standalone plan. "We have a job to do, which is to maximize recoveries for unsecured creditors," Golden said. He declined to say if any other airline has made an offer to buy Delta. US Airways sent another newsletter to its employees Monday explaining the regulatory issues that will be considered by the government in deciding whether to approve the deal. The company stated again its belief that there still would be plenty of competition after a US Airways-Delta deal. US Airways shares fell $1.18, or 2 percent, to $57.98 in midday trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. -----------------------------------= ----------------------------------- Copyright 2006 AP