Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-4-1994

Abstract

On this appeal we once again concern ourselves with the bankruptcy of Eastern Air Lines. See In re Ionosphere Clubs, Inc., 922 F.2d 984, 988 (2d Cir.1990) ("Ionosphere I"), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 50, 116 L.Ed.2d 28 (1991). The Air Line Pilots Association, International ("ALPA"), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ("IAM") and the Transport Workers Union ("TWU")[1] (collectively, the "Unions") appeal from a May 24, 1993 order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Mukasey, J.); In re Ionosphere Clubs, Inc., 154 B.R. 623 (S.D.N.Y.1993), affirming a September 10, 1991 order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Lifland, C.J.), classifying pre-petition vacation pay claims asserted by former Eastern employees in part as unsecured claims eligible for third-priority status under section 507(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code (the "Code"), 11 U.S.C. § 507(a)(3), and in part as general unsecured claims. The district court also rejected ALPA's contention that the bankruptcy court erred by not requiring Eastern and ALPA to arbitrate a dispute over the interpretation of the vacation pay provisions in the collective bargaining agreement between them, finding that there was no arbitrable dispute regarding these provisions. On appeal, the Unions contend that section 1113(f) of the Code supersedes the priority scheme of section 507, giving the vacation pay claims a superpriority status. ALPA also reasserts its contention that the bankruptcy court should have ordered Eastern to arbitrate with ALPA over the interpretation of the vacation pay provisions in the collective bargaining agreement between them. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Comments

In re IONOSPHERE CLUBS, INC.; Eastern Air Lines, Inc.; Bar Harbor Airways, Inc., doing business as Eastern Express, Debtors. AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; Transport Workers Union of America, Appellants,

v.

Martin R. SHUGRUE, Jr., Trustee for the Estate of Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Appellee.

No. 597 Docket 93-5054.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued December 13, 1993.

Decided April 4, 1994.

New York Law School location: File #1822, Box #132

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