Source: http://www.leagle.com/decision/199422618F3d208_1199
Timestamp: 2014-03-11 13:44:00
Document Index: 738815042

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 301', '§ 362', '§ 362', '§ 362', '§ 1292', '§ 1292', '§ 158', '§ 158', '§ 158', '§ 362']

IN RE TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC. | Leagle.com Home
Citing Case IN RE TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC.No. 93-7721. 18 F.3d 208 (1994) In re TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INCORPORATED, Debtors.
Argued January 20, 1994.Decided March 10, 1994. William H. Sudell, Jr., S. David Peress, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, Wilmington, DE, David S. Kurtz, Richard M. Cieri, Jane A. Rue (argued), Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, New York City, for appellant.Frank W. Hunger, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richard G. Andrews, U.S. Atty., J. Christopher Kohn, Sandra Spooner, Ruth A. Harvey, Samuel R. Maizel (argued), U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civil Div., Washington, DC, for appellee U.S.James E. Spiotto, Barbara C. Klabacha, Jeffrey T. Veber, Chapman and Cutler, Chicago, IL, Laura Davis Jones, Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, Wilmington, DE, for appellee Official Unsecured Creditors' Committee of Trans World Airlines, Inc.Before: SCIRICA, LEWIS, AND GARTH Circuit Judges. OPINION OF THE COURT
FootNotes1. The Official Unsecured Creditors' Committee of Trans World Airlines, Inc., did not file a notice of appeal. It is carried as an appellee in the caption to conform to this court's protocol. However, the brief that it filed in this appeal as appellee supported TWA's position.2. TWA's proceeding was filed under 11 U.S.C. § 301. The automatic stay provisions of § 362(a) provide in relevant part:
(1) the commencement or continuation, including the issuance or employment of process, of a judicial, administrative, or other proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case under this title, or to recover a claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title * * *.3. The Bankruptcy Court on August 11, 1993 approved TWA's plan of reorganization. The automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362 remained in effect until the effective date of the TWA's reorganization plan on November 3, 1993, at which time all property of the estate vested in reorganized TWA.4. Because the denial of relief from the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362 was a final order, In re West Electronics Inc., 852 F.2d 79, 82 (3d Cir. 1988), it was immediately appealable by the Government.
We express no opinion respecting Judge Balick's ruling as the setoff issue is not before us on appeal.5. Bankruptcy Rule 7062 provides:
(a) Automatic Stay; Exceptions—Injunctions, Receiverships, and Patent Accountings. Except as stated herein, no execution shall issue upon a judgment nor shall proceedings be taken for its enforcement until the expiration of 10 days after its entry. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, an interlocutory or final judgment in an action for an injunction ... shall not be stayed during the period after its entry and until an appeal is taken or during the pendency of an appeal.6. Rule 62(d) in pertinent part provides:
A motion for a stay of the judgment, order, or decree of a bankruptcy court, for approval of a supersedeas bond, or for other relief pending appeal must ordinarily be made in the first instance in the bankruptcy court. Notwithstanding Rule 7062 but subject to the power of the district court and the bankruptcy appellate panel reserved hereinafter, the bankruptcy court may suspend or order the continuation of other proceedings in the case under the Code or make any other appropriate order during the pendency of an appeal on such terms as will protect the rights of all parties in interest. A motion for such relief, or for modification or termination of relief granted by the bankruptcy court, may be made to the district court or the bankruptcy appellate panel, but the motion shall show why the relief, modification, or termination was not obtained from the bankruptcy court. The district court ... may condition the relief it grants under this rule on the filing of a bond ... but when an appeal is taken by the United States ... a bond or other security shall not be required.7. Rule 62(e) provides:
Stay in Favor of the United States or Agency Thereof. When an appeal is taken by the United States or an officer or agency thereof or by direction of any department of the Government of the United States and the operation or enforcement of the judgment is stayed, no bond, obligation, or other security shall be required from the appellant.8. Bankruptcy Rule 9014 provides in pertinent part:
In a contested matter in a case under the Code not otherwise governed by these rules, relief shall be requested by motion ... and, unless the court otherwise directs, the following rules shall apply: ... 7062. The court may at any stage in a particular matter direct that one or more of the other rules in Part VII shall apply. * * *9. 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) provides that the courts of appeal may exercise jurisdiction over "[i]nterlocutory orders of the district courts ... granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, except where a direct review may be had in the Supreme Court." 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1).
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(d), the courts of appeal have jurisdiction over appeals from "all final decisions, judgments, orders, and decrees entered under subsections (a) and (b) of this section." Id. Subsection (a) gives the district courts authority to hear appeals from final and interlocutory orders of the bankruptcy courts. Id. § 158(a). Subsection (b), which permits the judicial council of any circuit to establish a bankruptcy appellate panel, is not applicable here. Id. § 158(b).10. The denial of relief from the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362 is considered the equivalent of a permanent injunction. In re Comer, 716 F.2d 168, 173 (3d Cir.1983); In re Taddeo, 685 F.2d 24, 26 n. 4 (2d Cir.1982); Borg-Warner Acceptance Corp. v. Hall, 685 F.2d 1306, 1309 (11th Cir.1982).11. We recognize that in its subsequent ruling on October 6, 1993, denying the Government a stay pending appeal, the bankruptcy court employed the term "mandatory injunction." [App. 87.] The record, however, discloses no order issued by the bankruptcy court which provides that the action taken by it constitutes a mandatory injunction.12. We note that TWA has not sought expedited review by the district court of the Government's appeal of the September 30, 1993 order of the bankruptcy court, although TWA has obtained expedited review of the instant appeal. This suggests to us that TWA's motivation in pursuing this appeal is not primarily for the purpose of having us resolve issues "peculiar to bankruptcy," but rather is intended to obtain an effective judgment in its favor on disbursement of the Alaska Airlines fund before the district court decides the interagency setoff issue raised in the Government's pending appeal.13. We note that Bankruptcy Court Judge Balick, following extensive hearings, determined that TWA was able "to remain a reorganized debtor and compete in the airline industry." Since TWA's reorganization plan never considered the Alaska Airlines funds, it is difficult to see how withholding TWA's immediate access to those funds constitutes "irreparable harm," as TWA asserts. Indeed, TWA itself proclaims itself to be "a viable airline capable of meeting its obligations as they fall due." Judge Balick's finding that TWA would suffer substantial harm if not given immediate access to the $8.36 million amounts does not dictate a contrary result. Her finding amounts to a conclusory statement:
That TWA may have to borrow funds for capital improvements hardly constitutes the type of irreparable harm that would require this court, at this stage of the proceedings, to address the propriety of withholding the funds against which the Government has asserted a right of setoff— the very issue still undecided and now before the district court. Comment