Sun Country can't pay its $4 million debt with a nudge and a smile

So how screwed is Sun Country? How about $4 million screwed. After their parent company's former CEO Tom Petters landed himself in jail accused of more than $3 billion in fraud, the airline has been scrambling to make ends meet.

The Mendota Heights-based carrier filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week and told a judge it owes $3.97 million to its 20 biggest unsecured creditors, according to Bloomberg news.

From Bloomberg:

Delta Airlines has a claim for $950,000 and the Metropolitan Airports Commission in Minneapolis one for $1.48 million, according to papers filed Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul. Unsecured claims are among the least likely to be paid in such cases.

Sun Country, which leases its nine planes, filed a Chapter 11 petition Monday after it couldn't get a $7 million short-term loan from its owner, Petters Group Worldwide LLC. The company's assets were frozen after its founder, Tom Petters, was arrested and accused of masterminding a $3 billion fraud.

"It was a shock to everyone," Sun Country spokeswoman Heidi Bausch said Thursday in a phone interview, referring to events at Petters Group. "All we know is what's in the papers. When it came out that day, it was a big blow to all of us."

Anyone else ready to drive to Mexico this winter? We can't seem to depend on anyone but ourselves to save us and our flight plans are quickly darkening.