Exhibit 99.1
News Release
Atlas Air
2000 Westchester Avenue
Purchase, NY 10577-2543
Contact: Vicki L. Foster
(914) 701-8400
Atlas Air Responds to Market Rumors
Purchase, NY (November 29, 2000) - Atlas Air today issued the following
statement in regard to its current case pending in Federal Court for the
District of Columbia. The case concerns Atlas Air's exclusion of its pilots from
the corporate Profit Sharing Plan following certification of a collective
bargaining unit in April 1999. Although the Federal District Court upheld this
exclusion in December of 1999, on November 21, 2000 the Court of Appeals
reversed the lower court's decision and remanded back to the Federal District
Court.
While Atlas Air believes it is premature to speculate or to make assumptions as
to what the ultimate disposition of the case will be, the Company believes that
when the Appellate Court reversed the decision, it did so without fully deciding
issues still central to the resolution of the case. On remand, there remain
considerable issues to be litigated including findings of fact, eligibility,
remedies, and damages. The Federal District Court's determination in these and
other areas of dispute remain open to further appeals by both parties. It could
well be six months to a year or longer before a final judgment is entered in
this case.
Atlas Air continues to believe that exclusion was proper under the terms of the
Profit Sharing Plan and will exhaust all legal remedies in defense of that Plan.
Should the courts ultimately decide that Atlas Air should have included pilots
in the Profit Sharing Plan, Atlas Air has preliminarily determined that the
maximum cash distribution through the year 2000 would be approximately $16
million dollars.
Atlas Air is a United States certificated air carrier that operates a fleet of
747 freighters under ACMI contracts. These contracts include the provision by
Atlas Air of aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance for some of the world's
leading international airlines. Atlas Air operates scheduled flights on behalf
of its customer airlines to 101 cities in 46 countries.
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To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to the
Company's expectations, assumptions and other Company matters are
forward-looking, they are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based
on current expectations that involve a number of uncertainties and risks that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, risks associated
with: worldwide business and economic conditions; product demand and the rate of
growth in the air cargo industry; the impact of competitors and competitive
aircraft and aircraft financing availability; the ability to attract and retain
new and existing customers; normalized aircraft operating costs and reliability;
management of growth; the continued productivity of its workforce; dependence on
key personnel; and regulatory matters. For additional information regarding
these and other risk factors, reference is made to the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and the Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2000.
