Western Global Airlines, a US FAA 121 certified long-haul wide-body cargo airline with worldwide coverage, announced today (December 4, 2023) that the Company has successfully completed its comprehensive financial restructuring.
The Company’s Plan of Reorganization was confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware after receiving overwhelming support by all voting classes of creditors and the unanimous support of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.
Under the Plan, WGA has materially reduced its debt by more than $460 million and infused significant new capital into the Company, while preserving its seasoned workforce and long-term relationships with customers and suppliers.
The Company is positioned for a strong and promising future as it leverages its unique and scalable platform. WGA will benefit from a greatly enhanced balance sheet, building on its extensive ten-year experience of safely and reliably operating large wide-body freighters to more than 400 airports in 135 countries on six continents.
The Company has emerged with its entire pre-petition fleet of four 747-400 and fifteen MD-11 operational freighters intact, as well as two MD-11F’s that have not yet been conformed, eleven part-out aircraft, and a large inventory of parts, materials, and tooling.
Further, during the Chapter 11 process, the Company completed the overhaul of seven spare CF6-80C2 engines. With the exception of one leased airplane, all aircraft, engines, and spare parts are 100% owned by the reorganized WGA.
Over the course of just 100 days, the Company restructured its debt through an in-court process. WGA continued to operate without disruption and implemented a cash award retention program for nearly its entire workforce during the process by drawing on $77.5 million of Debtor in Possession (DIP) financing provided by its owners, Jim and Sunny Neff, who also funded the equity and exit financing, and waived nearly $100 million of secured and unsecured prepetition debt held by them in order to provide recovery to all creditors. This cash consideration is a testament to the Company’s effort to build consensus around its restructuring Plan, which it is proud to have achieved, and to establish a strong foundation going forward.
Top Copyright Photo: Western Global Airlines – WGA McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (F) N783SN (msn 48783) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 962071.
WGA aircraft photo gallery:
