Trading in shares of UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, were halted this morning in New York when a six-year-old Chicago Tribune story on the company's prior bankruptcy was apparently republished, sparking a run on the stock.

The stock collapsed by 99.2 per cent to just 1 cent before it was suspended after 11am. When trading resumed, just over an hour later, they rose to $11.63. Shares had closed on Friday at $12.30.

A United spokeswoman immediately denied that UAL has filed for bankruptcy.

Traders reacted so negatively to the report because UAL reported a second-quarter net loss of $2.7 billion, on July 22.

After crude oil notched a record $147.27 a barrel in July, analysts were predicting a fresh wave of airline bankruptcies and have been scrutinising airline’s financial statements for signs that insolvency was near.

United said the reports were “completely untrue" and were the result of the "irresponsible posting of a six-year-old Chicago Tribune article by the Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper website with the date changed”.

United filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2002. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2006. Despite its struggles, the company has given no indication it plans another bankruptcy filing.

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