When state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines won its case at the District of Columbia Court in Washington DC on July 8, 2007, the verdict offered hope to the company's management and employees.

At the time, when the financial condition of the company was in serious trouble, judge Richard J. Leon ordered Alan Messner, owner of Thirdstone Aircraft Leasing Group (TALG), and Jon C. Cooper, owner of Hume and Associates, to return the security deposit M