On January 17, 2014, Chief Judge Kevin Gross of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued a decision  limiting the right of a holder of a secured claim to credit bid at a bankruptcy sale. In re Fisker Auto. Holdings, Inc.,  Case No. 13-13087-KG, 2014 WL 210593 (Bankr. D. Del. Jan. 17, 2014). Fisker raises significant issues for lenders who  are interested in selling their secured debt and for parties who buy secured debt with the goal of using the debt to  acquire the borrower’s assets through a credit bid.

There are signs of hope in the aviation marketplace, with the slow return of financing and the apparent bottoming-out of aircraft values. Buying opportunities abound-but so do risks; and no situation is more frustrating than finding yourself "infected" by someone else's bankruptcy. Even if the market has reached its nadir, there are many companies that are simply not going to survive much longer in the market as it has been redefined.