United Airlines temporarily lost most of its market value on Monday after a false report the carrier had returned to bankruptcy court surfaced on the internet.
A six-year-old Chicago Tribune story on United’s 2002 bankruptcy filing – spotted on a Google search by an investment newsletter – triggered a sell-off of the carrier’s shares that ended when trading was halted. The stock reached a low of $3, then rebounded once trading resumed to close down 11 per cent.
Investors accepted the article as news that the Chicago-based airline had once again sought protection from creditors, a scenario that had grown more feasible in the past year as jet fuel prices skyrocketed.