Originally Posted by HeathrowGuy
1. AFAIK, frequent flyers are not considered unsecured creditors within the context of US Bankruptcy laws.
2. If there is an economic argument justifying the assumption of SkyMiles by another airline, then the miles will be assumed for those SM members covered within the argument. All members might have all of their miles assumed, or Platinum Medallions living in targeted markets only might get 50% of their miles assumed - there's no way to know this definitively beforehand, and let's hope that the events necessary to force consideration of this issue do not occur.
I think you're right about point number 1 (and point no. 2 also, for that matter). When creditors are ranked to determine who's first in line, I don't think we're in the line at all.
Regarding a possible dissolution or massive devaluation of Skymiles, isn't it possible that they could be honored by an airline or airlines that do not merge with/take over Delta or purchase liquidated assets? I mean, even if Delta suddenly evaporated entirely, wouldn't other airlines scramble to recruit all those frequent flyers previously loyal to Delta? And wouldn't they figure out that one way to inexpensively recruit loyalty to the new airline would be to honor the abandoned flyer's Skymiles (or, more likely, to convert them, probably at a discounted rate, into the new airline's program)? Or is that just wishful thinking (for instance, I can see how verification would be a problem, without access to Delta's Skymiles database).