The company behind the in-flight catalog SkyMall filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, a victim of evolving rules and
technology that now lets airline passengers keep their smartphones and tablets
powered up during flight. SkyMall LLC, its parent company Xhibit Corp.,
and several other affiliates are seeking a bankruptcy-court supervised sale of
their assets, according to papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Phoenix.
In court papers, acting Chief Executive Scott Wiley cited a
“crowded, rapidly evolving and intensely competitive” retail environment as the
reason for the quarterly publication’s recent nosedive.
The SkyMall business had revenue of about $33.7 million in
2013, but only $15.8 million for the nine months ended September 28, 2014. SkyMall
filed to preserve their assets by seeking to achieve a sale of their assets and
complete an orderly wind-down of their affairs.
The company doesn’t have a buyer lined up, but Mr. Wiley
said SkyMall is hoping to sell its business as a going concern and will attempt
to “sustain their scaled-down business operations as a going concern” during
the sale process. An auction will be held on or about March 24 and any sale of
SkyMall’s assets will close in April.
SkyMall, whose catalog can be found in the seat pockets on
many domestic flights, named Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and
US Airways as its largest unsecured creditors, court papers show. In its bankruptcy
petition, the company listed assets between $1 million and $10 million and
liabilities ranging from $10 million to $50 million.
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