Silver Airways filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Florida on Monday, listing both assets and liabilities of $100 to $500 million each and doesn’t expect anything to be left for unsecured creditors after administrative expenses of the bankruptcy are paid.
They have not publicly disclosed a detailed restructuring plan, other than securing additional capital and shedding liabilities. Customers are being told their filing will not affect flight operations. The carrier projects completing restructuring by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
A year and a half ago I wrote about how Silver hadn’t been paying rent at its Fort Lauderdale hub and faced eviction after running up a seven figure tab.
Earlier this year American Airlines dropped them as a codeshare partner. The carrier stopped flying north of Greenville-Spartanburg in South Carolina, and I said they were bleeding cash. The carrier took strenuous objection, blowing up my email with unpleasantries. I turned out to be correct.
The Silver Airways fleet consists of 8 ATR42s and 6 ATR72s. Subsidiary Seaborne Virgin Islands has two float-equipped DHC-6-300s. Their network currently includes intra-Florida routes as well as Bahamas and Caribbean flying. (They no longer fly north of Florida.)
Major creditors include their aircraft lessors, $2.1 million owed to the IRS, and airport authorities in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale (owed at least $1 million each). Under certain conditions non-trust fund tax debt, generally at least three years old, can be discharged in bankruptcy.
(HT: Nate)
Silver struggled from the start, often significantly delayed and cancelled quick flights, like FLL-MCO, which should not have been that hard to pull off (even Spirit could do it within reason). However, this really harms the inter-Caribbean flights, like SJU-EIS, etc., where there may be other operators, but Silver was most affordable, using slightly larger ATR42/72s, rather than a 16-seater Cessna, so I’m wondering what happens in those markets if they fail to restructure. Probably a loss of competition, so higher prices for passengers overall. United was also a major codeshare partner of Silver in those markers, so maybe UA will give them a lifeline, out of necessity. Sadly, we should expect more bankruptcies on the way.
I’m sure the CEO got their bonus! That is a universal constant, no matter how poorly they perform. Too many “big ideas” people without the ability to make it work. Should start small, learn the market, how to operate successfully, and slowly build.
I briefly passed through this airline, in my opinion the first step is to change Management Position. I saw it come they were operating like an Airline from 1970’s. Terror culture, it needs to understand how human behavior in order to integrate into a system.
I briefly passed through this airline, in my opinion the first step is to change Management Position. I saw it come they were operating like an Airline from 1970’s. Terror culture, it needs to understand how human behavior in order to integrate into a system.
JetBlue could cherry pick the parts and pieces. Silver serves multiple Bahama islands from FLL which is B6’s third largest base. Also, Silver serves multiple Caribbean islands from SJU which B6 just raised to crew base status for FAs and pilots. In a stretch, could use Silver for commuter service out of Boston & NYC.
New name for Silver would be JetBlue Express or JBExpress.
Those ATRs in your picture sure look a lot like SAAB 340s, just saying..