Gig 601XL Builder wrote:

But the company ought to be liquadated to pay the pensions. Think
of it this way. You go to work at the airline. They promise to pay
you $X now and if you hang around they will pay you $X after you
retire.

Labor is supposed to be the first thing paid.

Nope. The first groups paid are the IRS, the bankruptcy trustee, and
the bankruptcy lawyers and accountants.

Then come the secured creditors, who mainly have claim to physical
assets like real estate, aircraft or other vehicles.

Next are the priority creditors. Any payroll earned in the previous 90
days and not yet paid, and employee benefit payments due the previous
180 days will allow employees to claim those amounts along with other
priority creditors.

The shortfalls in payments to the pension plan, other than the payments
due in the six months prior to bankruptcy filing, will be part of the
unsecured debts. These generally are paid in cents on the dollar, if
there is even enough money for that.

Therefore, liquidating the airline would only serve to cause many
existing employees and suppliers to lose their means of income, and
disrupt many cities across the country. If the company can truly
restructure into a going concern, then it should be allowed to do so.
Otherwise, it would be punishing those that contributed the least to the
company's problems.