Virgin Atlantic Airways has filed for bankruptcy protection for its United States business, as it tries to nail down a $1.6 billion rescue plan announced last month.
It’s the second of Richard Branson’s airlines to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic, after Virgin Australia filed for “administration” — a form of bankruptcy in countries like Australia and England — earlier this year.
Virgin Atlantic filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday. Chapter 15 is a way for foreign companies to let US bankruptcy courts recognize restructuring efforts happening abroad.
The company is not yet going out of business or liquidating its operations, which is what Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection does.
That said, Virgin Atlantic told a London court that it will run out of cash next month if the rescue plan is not approved. The company has an asset management firm waiting to loan it £170 million ($222 million) to stop the immediate financial bleeding as soon as the plan gets the okay from stakeholders and creditors.
“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on not only [Virgin Atlantic], but the aviation industry as a whole, occasioning the near shutdown of the global passenger aviation industry,” the company’s lawyers wrote in the filing. “While [Virgin Atlantic] has taken various measures to manage its liquidity in light of the unprecedented financial and operating conditions it faces, a more comprehensive recapitalization is necessary to secure the future of its business and ensure that it is able to meet its liabilities and funding requirements beyond mid-September 2020.”
