American Airlines plans to issue $5bn in bonds and $2.5bn in leveraged loans backed by its loyalty program AAdvantage. The proceeds from the issue will be used to repay all outstanding amounts under its term loan facility given by the US Treasury during the pandemic last year. The planned issuance is set to be in the form of $2.5bn in 5Y bonds, $2.5bn in 8Y bonds and $2.5bn via a term loan credit facility. News of the planned issuance first emerged last month with Bloomberg adding that the deal size could be in the $7bn-$9bn range with a potential yield of 6-7%. US airline companies have been issuing bonds backed by their loyalty programs since the pandemic broke out – United in June 2020 raised $6.8bn backed by its mileage program while Delta raised $9bn backed by its SkyMiles program.
AA’s bonds were stable to higher – their 3.375% 2027s were at 97.13, yielding 4.1% and their 5% 2022s were up 1 cent to 96.27, yielding 8.3%.
For the full story, click here
