American Airlines Group will hold on to more of its record $21b in cash amid continued uncertainty over the industry’s recovery from a pandemic-driven slump. The carrier previously said it would bring liquidity down to between $10b and $12b at some point next year, with anything above that level being used to pay off debt. In a presentation for investors Thursday, American said it’s reevaluating its plans, without specifying how much cash it expects to retain or for how long. American Airlines will hold on to more of its record $21b in cash amid continued uncertainty over the industry’s recovery from a pandemic-driven slump. The carrier previously said it would bring liquidity down to between $10 billion and $12 billion at some point next year, with anything above that level being used to pay off debt. In a presentation for investors Thursday, American said it’s reevaluating its plans, without specifying how much cash it expects to retain or for how long.<br/>
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LATAM Airlines said Thursday it has received several offers to fund its exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, each of which are worth more than $5b. LATAM received the offers from creditors and shareholders, according to a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court in New York City. The Santiago, Chile-based company did not reveal the number of offers received or from whom they came, but Delta is LATAM’s largest shareholder. Other shareholders include Qatar Airways, with a 10% stake. LATAM, which also operates in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as well as having operations through Latin America, Europe, the United States and the Caribbean, only said in the filing the offers came from “its most significant claimholders and its majority shareholders.” It said negotiations for financing are ongoing.<br/>
Japan Airlines said Friday it had finalised plans to issue 300b yen ($2.73b) of hybrid loans and subordinated bonds in response to the severe challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will raise 200b yen from hybrid loans and 100 billion from subordinated bonds, the airline said in a statement to the stock exchange. JAL had announced initial plans for the raising on Thursday but provided more details of the funding mix on Friday.<br/>
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways will close its London pilot base and review the last remaining overseas pilot bases in the United States, the airline said on Thursday, as it grapples with the impact of coronavirus. The closure comes after Cathay put the London base under review in July and shut bases in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany this year in a bid to focus operations in Hong Kong, where pilots have taken permanent pay cuts to retain jobs. The London-based pilots, many of whom had not been flying since April 2020, will be offered a redundancy or the opportunity to move to Hong Kong, Cathay said. “The decision is not one we have taken lightly and does not reflect on the professionalism of the pilots based in London,” the airline said. Cathay added that it would review its US bases later in the year.<br/>