Proof of Claim Form Explained

SEE ALSO:
 ▪ Proof of Claim Form (.pdf)
 ▪ Instructions (.pdf)
 ▪ Bar Date Order (.pdf)

United recently mailed to all creditors including its employees a notice establishing May 12, 2003 as the deadline or “bar date” for filing a proof of claim in the bankruptcy. A “claim” is any amount of money owed by United to, in our case, a Flight Attendant prior to the December 9, 2002 when the bankruptcy was filed and that remains unpaid.

AFA is currently in discussions with United to confirm that any claim that arises from our collective bargaining agreement does not have to be filed by each individual employee. Instead, AFA would file a proof of claim, or an “omnibus claim,” on behalf of all Flight Attendants for claims that are based upon the labor contract. Claims that are based upon the collective bargaining agreement would include all contractual grievances. We expect to receive confirmation that United has agreed to this filing arrangement within the next several days and we will notify you accordingly. You do not need to file such a claim yourself in the meantime.

The court order that established the bar date does not require that proof of claims be filed for “claims previously allowed by, or paid pursuant to, an order of the Court.” On the first day of the bankruptcy case the court entered an order allowing United to pay wages, vacation, sick pay and severance of its employees after the filing, or “post-petition.” Accordingly, no claim is required with regard to any of these forms of compensation.

For any matter that does not arise from the collective bargaining agreement, such as workers compensation or a claim based upon an individually-filed lawsuit, the Flight Attendant is required to file a proof of claim. If you have such a claim, we suggest that you contact your attorney, if you have retained one, or hold the claim for the next few days until we have more concrete information to share with you.

All Flight Attendants should hold the proof of claim forms until we have definite information about who needs to file these claims. We will distribute more information as soon as possible.

*Bar Date
The last day a claim against the debtor may be accepted by the bankruptcy court.

*Omnibus Claim
An omnibus claim contains more than one substantive matter, or several minor matters which have been combined into one claim for the sake of convenience.

*Post-petition
Post-petition refers to the time since the bankruptcy filing on December 9, 2002.

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