Nasdaq to Delist US Airways

US Airways' (UAIRQ Quote) shareholders looking for a stock quote will need to use a different ticker, starting Wednesday. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, the Nasdaq Stock Market is delisting the company, which now trades as "UAIRQ."

The carrier's common stock will stop trading on the Nasdaq as of Sept. 22, once again moving back to the over-the-counter market. This is the second time in two years US Airways has been booted from an exchange and forced to trade on the pink sheets, where liquidity is thin. In reaction, shares of the carrier were down 14 cents, or 13%, to 94 cents.

Investors may have deja vu -- and could end up with nothing if they hold on to shares too long. Prior to its first bankruptcy court filing in August 2002, US Airways traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "U." It was delisted after the company filed for Chapter 11, traded for a while as an over-the-counter stock named "UAWGQ" and was promptly cancelled when the carrier exited bankruptcy in April 2003.

When US Airways finally began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker "UAIR" on Oct. 21, 2003, none of the people who owned the original "U" stock got a piece of the new company. Already, US Airways has begun warning investors about buying its shares because of the risk of cancellation.

"There has been no determination as to whether the company's existing equity securities will be preserved in any such plan of reorganization," said US Airways, in a statement. "Accordingly, the company urges that appropriate caution be exercised with respect to existing and future investments."

Under reorganization, shares are usually cancelled. Because a company's debt exceeds assets and losses are mounting, it has no way to pay off the people it owes -- so instead, it offers them a stake in the new, restructured company as compensation. During the court supervised restructuring process, banks and bondholders are the first to be paid, but shareholders are usually last, since the implied risk of buying stock is that it could conceivably go to zero.