In very late 2024, Florida-based regional airline Silver Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Executives at the airline insisted that this would be a quick restructuring, and that the company would emerge stronger than ever before in the first quarter of 2025. Well, things aren’t looking so good anymore…
In this post:
Silver Airways trustee recommends Chapter 7 liquidation
The United States trustee overseeing Silver Airways’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy process has requested dismissal of the case, “because there is a substantial and continuing loss to the estate shown by the Debtors’ net negative profits and negative cash flow, and an absence of a reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation evidenced by the Debtors’ inability to secure debtor in possession financing and fanciful projections that fail to take reality into consideration.”
The last part of that sentence is quite something, eh? “Fanciful projections that fail to take reality into consideration,” hah. Some of the supporting details are quite wild, and show just what a mess Silver Airways is in:
- The value of Silver Airways’ property totals just under $90 million, but the company has $400 million in debt, including owing $8 million to various taxing authorities
- Silver Airways suffered a net loss of $467K in February 2025, and $1.221 million in the first two weeks of March 2025, and the company projected a net loss of $1.243 million for the second half of March 2025
Keep in mind that in recent weeks, some Silver Airways planes have started to be repossessed, causing the airline to have a wildly unreliable schedule.
At this point, it seems like a Chapter 7 liquidation is basically Silver Airways’ only option. A hearing for this case is scheduled for May 7, 2025, so I have to imagine that this will spell the end of Silver Airways, if it doesn’t happen before then.
I can’t say this outcome is much of a surprise
Obviously I don’t like to see any airline go out of business, given that people will lose their jobs as a result of this, and it also reduces competition. That being said, Silver Airways’ position in the market never made a whole of sense to me, and it appears that the airline has been struggling financially for a long time.
What’s interesting is that Silver Airways isn’t publicly traded, as it was purchased by a venture capital firm in 2016. Nothing about the company’s optics have suggested that the financial performance is going well, as the company has fallen behind on airport lease payments more times than I can count.
There aren’t many US carriers exclusively operating turboprops, so the airline has had a unique place in the market. That being said, the company’s network has been quite limited, mostly operating routes within Florida, as well as to, from, and within, the Caribbean.
If Silver Airways does liquidate, there aren’t really too many routes that will likely be taken over by other airlines.
Bottom line
Silver Airways has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for over three months now, and it seems like the company’s days are limited. The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy has reported on just how dire the situation is, and how the company really doesn’t have any options to remain in business. I think it’s safe to say that Silver Airways’ days are numbered, which shouldn’t come as a shock…
Are you surprised to see this outcome for Silver Airways?
I'm gonna miss these guys.
Been flying with them since they were "Gulfstream Airlines" with the Beech 1900's (19 seater, no FA, no lav) back in the day. Then they became Silver and it was the Saab 340's (34 seater, 1 FA). Ended up with the all ATR fleet, with the ATR 72's having 72 seats and 2 FA's. It's been cool watching them grow and flying with them over the years, but it might...
I'm gonna miss these guys.
Been flying with them since they were "Gulfstream Airlines" with the Beech 1900's (19 seater, no FA, no lav) back in the day. Then they became Silver and it was the Saab 340's (34 seater, 1 FA). Ended up with the all ATR fleet, with the ATR 72's having 72 seats and 2 FA's. It's been cool watching them grow and flying with them over the years, but it might just be that their point of failure was trying to grow too fast. Would love to see a case study of this one day.
There's just something cool about boarding on the tarmac and flying on a turboprop. Feels exotic and rare.
If anything comes to replace any of their routes, it's unlikely to be with a turboprop.
Having never flown the Beech 1900, did one of the pilots do the safety briefing?
Yes.
It was very brief. I can’t recall if he did it over a PA system while taxiing or if he just told us what was up before sealing up the door.
They did have two pilots. I remember that much.
Agree with most here - as a Fort Lauderdale resident, I'll be sad to see them go, as they provided a useful niche service to get to places like Tallahassee and Key West without having to pay through the nose to go AA out of MIA. Still, given the one post of a $40 fare, it's no surprise they're in this boat. And it's an open secret in Florida that their reliability was very low.
I feel you Ric, especially about the TLH service. Strange to think this time last year, TLH had JetBlue and Silver running directs to FLL, and of course AA to MIA. Fast forward and now it's back to AA or nothing between TLH and SoFla. And AA loves that because they get to jack their fares up to $500 RT or worse.
Silver's liquidation is a devastating loss for intra-caribbean connectivity. Via San Juan, they operated the only flight (or even only routes, regardless of layovers) to several destinations down island (Anguilla, Nevis, Dominica...). Inversely also connecting a number of tiny airports into a tier 1 US airport other than Miami. As mentioned, many of those routes will likely not be served going forward or they will be operated by a single carrier with full freedom to...
Silver's liquidation is a devastating loss for intra-caribbean connectivity. Via San Juan, they operated the only flight (or even only routes, regardless of layovers) to several destinations down island (Anguilla, Nevis, Dominica...). Inversely also connecting a number of tiny airports into a tier 1 US airport other than Miami. As mentioned, many of those routes will likely not be served going forward or they will be operated by a single carrier with full freedom to price gauge. I get that these routes were not profitable but I wish some of the governments would have come together to say keeping the operations was worth the subsidy.
Very sad in my opinion. Obviously incompetent management - how do you lose 1.2M in two weeks?
Silver was notorious for delays and cxls.
However - they had some monopoly routes to some of the outer islands in the Bahamas - how can this loose money? Is BahamasAir going to step up? It's usually a train wreck.
I think Silver's expansion outside Florida killed them - SAV/CHS/BHM didn't work. They competed with jets on some routes.
Too bad.
Too bad the JetBlue pilot’s scope clause forbids a regional carrier. A revised Silver (new name of BluExpress or JBExpress) could of acted as a feeder:
- FLL (B6 hub) to the Bahamas & parts of the Sunshine state
- SJU (another B6 hub) to the surrounding islands
- NYC & BOS (more B6 hubs) to the surrounding NE area (with AA tagging along if the NEA was re-approved).
Lost opportunity.
Silver already code shared with B6... AND United. Didn't make a difference
I think there’s more issues in the background you’re over looking:
_ Silver lost its contract to fly freight on behalf of Amazon. Freight had been a steady revenue to flatten out the seasonal variances
- Silver panicked and attempted to fly PAX service in the southeast with disastrous results
- Via post Chapter 11, JetBlue would develop Northeast service (BOS & NYC) to further leverage Silver assets due to regional and...
I think there’s more issues in the background you’re over looking:
_ Silver lost its contract to fly freight on behalf of Amazon. Freight had been a steady revenue to flatten out the seasonal variances
- Silver panicked and attempted to fly PAX service in the southeast with disastrous results
- Via post Chapter 11, JetBlue would develop Northeast service (BOS & NYC) to further leverage Silver assets due to regional and seasonal demands gaining economy of scale
- JetBlue would still offer Silver interline links with DL, UA, AA, etc for the areas served. This gets as many belly buttons in the Silver seats as possible
- Silver would be a steeping stone for pilots to move up to the B6 flight deck encouraging turbo prop pilots to ride it out instead of bailing out
- private equity has a dismal record of managing airlines and ready to bail on Silver. B6 would provide the fiscal and management discipline necessary post Chapter 11. Yes, B6 has its issues. However, Ms Joanna is righting the ship with proven results.
- By continuing to provide intra-Florida service, B6 gains some political influence in Tallahassee
What a shame. Silver was a nice intra-Florida budget option. You could get from TPA to FLL for about $40. Versus what AA wants at nearly $300. Granted AA got you direct to MIA, but hey, for a $260 discount I'll put up with FLL and uber it to MIA.
Silver fit a good niche in Florida. Ways to reach the Panhandle without routing through Atlanta or Miami. One of their popular routes was Jacksonville-Pensacola. It's a very tedious 6 hour drive and for Navy families going back and forth from the 2 Naval cities it was a godsend. Allegiant has a similar racket going between BLV (Mid-America) and Fort Walton Beach. Both airports are located on USAF bases and get a lot of traffic beyond the usual vacation types.
At $40, you are not even covering the fuel cost. Explains why Silver has minimal viability.
While the airline wasn't the best, they had a niche place in the market. I am sad as a Floridian that they are going out of business. Some of the routes they served were very useful for me and people I know. However, their reliability was awful, often delaying flights an hour at a time until finally canceling them 12 hours after you were originally due to take off. I can't say I'll miss Silver...
While the airline wasn't the best, they had a niche place in the market. I am sad as a Floridian that they are going out of business. Some of the routes they served were very useful for me and people I know. However, their reliability was awful, often delaying flights an hour at a time until finally canceling them 12 hours after you were originally due to take off. I can't say I'll miss Silver per say, but I hope another airline starts up those routes with better reliability and business practices. Perhaps Cape Air?