Pinnacle Airlines has won court approval to reject the leases on 19 turboprop aircraft and to abandon the capacity purchase agreements it had with United-Continental.
The approvals were issued today by US bankruptcy judge Robert E. Gerber, according to court documents.
Pinnacle filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 1 April, and had filed a motion seeking to reject the leases on 16 Saab 340Bs and three Bombardier Q400s.
The airline also won court approval to cease its turboprop flights by subsidiary Colgan Air for United-Continental. As part of its restructuring process, Pinnacle plans to cease its Colgan Saab 340 flights for United Express by 1 August. The Colgan Q400 operations for the former Continental Airlines will be wound down by 30 November.
Pinnacle has also seeked court approval to stop operating Bombardier CRJ900s for Delta Air Lines. It is already in the process of winding down flying for US Airways.