Overview
- Ernst & Young announced a sale to US-based Air T and warned there will be no return to shareholders, with most of the 4,800 creditors owed about A$500 million likely to receive nothing.
- The transaction is intended to lift Rex out of voluntary administration and stabilise regional services, with a further update due before second meetings of creditors and the administration extended to 5 December to finalise the process.
- Air T runs cargo feeder operations and aircraft services and is viewed as a practical buyer because it controls scarce Saab 340 parts and an aircraft storage facility at Kingman, Arizona.
- Rex operates 57 Saab 340 turboprops whose age and parts scarcity have weighed on reliability and costs, making parts access central to the rescue.
- The federal government previously kept Rex flying with up to A$80 million in loans and by acquiring A$50 million of its debt, as ASIC continues court action alleging serious governance failures by former leadership.