[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by ljg

What do you guys think this means for our company? There will be a lot of talk about the transition from a publicly traded company to a private investment firm. I see advantages and disadvantages to it. Some advantages would be that we as a company don't have to make business decisions based on quarterly earnings reports to our shareholders, allowing us some extra flexibility. Secondly, I don't think the company currently has much outstanding debt. This extra influx of cash may help us start to tap into the market that everyone has been speculating we're headed into the next few years.
There are severe disadvantages I can imagine as well. Firstly, I was concerned about a firm buying Airnet that had no interest in aviation and would only milk it for assets. However, we don't really have many comparative "assets of value" (older equipment). This company also owns two other cargo airlines, so I *hope* that they can set goals and make decisions that are realistic to a cargo airline operation. What mostly concerns me is the fact that with private acquisition we have a sole investor behind us, which means we as a company must grow and fast. Bruce Parker mentioned in the conference call that given the constraints of the airline industry growth will be quite a challenge, but it is possible. I agree with that. Either we become more robust or we sink. With the current Airnet management team staying in place, they can reflect on their experience to set realistic goals for the future of our company. Honestly, I could be wrong, but I am not too overly concerned with the events of today. I think in the short-term all it means is that your check is going to say Airnet Holdings instead of Airnet Systems.

What do you all think about it?

I think you summed it up pretty good jor.
I'm not terribly worried. Although the direction of the company isn't lending toward my seat position I rather leave this place one day and see it survive rather then leave it when the door close. Hopefully we'll get some more concrete answers on the 18th.
Send me an email on your thoughts regarding the email sent on Friday.