Hawaiian Airlines announced today that it has reached a settlement of its lawsuit with Mesa Air Group, Inc., regarding Mesa’s misuse of confidential and proprietary information obtained during Hawaiian’s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization in 2004. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Hawaiian Airlines will receive a cash payment of $52.5 million and Mesa will withdraw its appeal of the $80 million judgment (plus interest, attorney’s fees and costs) awarded against Mesa by the United States Bankruptcy Court in October 2007. The cash payment is required to be made within two business days of approval of a stipulation by the bankruptcy court that will follow dismissal of the appeals.
On October 30, 2007, the Bankruptcy Court ruled in favor of Hawaiian, awarding Hawaiian $80 million for damages incurred to date and ordering that Mesa pay Hawaiian post-judgment interest and its cost of litigation and reasonable attorneys fees. In November 2007, Mesa filed a notice of appeal to this ruling and was required to post a $90 million bond as security for the judgment, post judgment interest, and attorney’s fees, pending the outcome of the appeal.
