Trump Takes ‘For Sale’ Sign Off Shuttle

Donald J. Trump said Thursday that he has taken the Trump Shuttle off the market after several months of trying to sell the financially troubled airline.

Trump bought the shuttle, which links New York, Boston and Washington with hourly flights, from Eastern Airlines for $365 million in June, 1989. But earlier this year, he said he was putting it on the market for $600 million because he believed that cash was a more desirable investment.

“In light of the continuing improvement that I am seeing in the shuttle, I have decided to take the Trump Shuttle off the market,” the New York real estate investor said in a statement.

“We have made significant progress in the last several months,” he said of the shuttle’s financial performance.

“We feel confident that we have 52% of the revenues in the Northeastern shuttle market,” Trump added. “Shuttle revenues, combined with an increased amount of charter revenues, have resulted in improved operating performance.”

After Trump announced that the airline was for sale, airline experts were quick to point out that the property was worth nowhere near $600 million. Indeed, most felt that the airline had declined in value since Trump had acquired it.

Kenneth Leventhal & Co., a financial adviser to Trump, said in a recent financial analysis that the Trump Shuttle was worth $340 million as an operating entity and $150 million to $300 million if sold as part of a liquidation.

For the past several months, Trump has been in negotiations with the nearly 100 banks he owes on restructuring his $2-billion debt. Late Wednesday, he announced that he had completed a five-year financing deal.