Commander decision delayed again

TYLER, Texas -- Saying that a sale of the company is better than trying to "sell off scrap," Cape Girardeau officials again agreed Tuesday to continue Commander Premier Aircraft Corp.'s bankruptcy hearing, this time until May 22.

City manager Scott Meyer said last month the city would not agree to another continuance -- this marks the third -- unless the failed airplane manufacturer had made progress toward finding investors. That has happened, Meyer said Tuesday, saying deals are being discussed that reach into seven figures.

The city, which is owed more than $800,000 from unmade lease payments, is asking a judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Eastern District of Texas to convert the bankruptcy status from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. That would allow the company's assets to be sold so the city could recoup a portion or all of its losses. Assets remain at the hangar Commander had occupied at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport until it was evicted in October.

Meyer said the city maintains it can get more money through a sale of the company than it can trying to sell off the assets, which he described basically as "scrap."

Pertinent address:

Tyler, Texas

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Cape Girardeau, MO