Sonali Tiwary
Silver Airways suddenly stopped all flights on June 11, 2025, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded across Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. The Fort Lauderdale-based regional airline posted a brief notice on social media telling customers, “Please do not go to the airport,” as all operations had ceased.
The shutdown came after the airline’s attempt to restructure through bankruptcy failed. Silver Airways filed for Chapter 11 protection in December 2024 with over $100 million in debt. A last-minute deal to sell the company fell apart when the buyer, Wexford Capital, decided not to continue flight operations.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the difficult news that, after months of navigating through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, our journey at Silver Airways is coming to an end for most of us,” CEO Steven Rossum wrote in an email to employees.
Approximately 348 workers lost their jobs, and FlightAware reported 52 cancellations on the first day alone. Many travellers discovered the shutdown only after arriving at airports to find empty ticket counters and no airline staff.
Silver Airways advised customers who paid with credit cards to seek refunds through their card companies or travel agencies. The airline is not offering direct refunds or assisting passengers with rebooking on other carriers.
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The regional airline had struggled financially for years. Its fleet had shrunk to just eight aircraft, down from a much larger operation that once employed over 600 people. Poor on-time performance had plagued the airline, and it had narrowly avoided eviction from its Fort Lauderdale hub in 2023 due to $1.4 million in unpaid rent and fees.
Airport officials were caught off guard by the sudden closure. David Pollard, Airport Director at Tallahassee International Airport, said they received no advance notice and would be requesting money Silver Airways collected from passenger facility charges.
Airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt noted that while airline bankruptcies aren’t uncommon, “airlines shutting down are rare,” especially during the peak summer travel season.
Travellers needing to reach Silver Airways destinations must now book with larger carriers like American, JetBlue, United, or Spirit, often at much higher last-minute fares.
