Continental Fails to Block TWA Auction

A bankruptcy judge denied a motion by Continental Airlines Inc. to halt what it claims is an unfair auction process of Trans World Airlines Inc. until an appeal of the process can be decided by a higher court. The decision means the March 5 TWA auction will continue on track, as will Continental’s expedited appeal before the 3rd Circuit Court, which could decide the appeal by late March or early April. American Airlines’ parent AMR Corp. is expected to be the only bidder, and likely winner, when the bidding closes Feb. 28. No other bidder has come forward so far to top AMR’s conditional agreement to buy most of TWA’s assets for $500 million and to hire all of its union employees. The deal would give United Airlines and American together about half of the U.S. air travel market, putting pressure on other carriers to forge new alliances.