" 'The big thing is really what it says about the overall case,' said Rahman, who has followed the Windstream case, but wasn’t involved in it. 'If there was a concern about liquidation or just a piecemeal breakup of the company, … you probably wouldn’t see the type of incentive plan or retention plan that they put in place.' "
The rest of the article reports what's already been discussed here but I thought the nugget above was interesting (and hopeful). The money people (creditors) and judge wouldn't approve those plans if they saw liquidation as likely