Silver Airways Nears Liquidation, But Gets Lifeline Through June

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. That’s not exactly how things are playing out. However, the airline also isn’t liquidating as quickly as many of us were anticipating.

Silver Airways is approaching Chapter 7 liquidation

In mid-April, the United States trustee overseeing Silver Airways’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy process 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 nearly $500K in February 2025, and a net loss of nearly $2.5 million in 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.

Silver Airways acquisition offer buys company time

Silver Airways had a hearing on May 7, 2025, which many thought would be the end of the airline. However, we’re not quite there yet. During this hearing, Silver Airways announced it has received a $5.775 million purchase offer from Argentum Acquisition Co., a New York-based investment firm with a history of taking over troubled airlines.

This is a stalking horse bid, so it’s the first and lowest reserve offer set in advance of any future auction. So this really sets the scene for how much the market thinks a carrier is worth, in a court filing. Separately, a buyer has signed a letter of intent to acquire Silver Airways for $4 million.

The judge has now given Silver Airways until the end of June to file a bankruptcy plan. For some reason, Connecticut-based lender KIA II has also given the airline $5.5 million to continue daily operations until that point.

During the hearing, the judge also expressed concerns about these offers, stating that such a low number will leave multiple creditors hanging. As he explained:

“I am pretty well set against the notion that a sale should be approved where [claims] are not paid in full. Lots of judges have taken similar positions. It’s a matter of applying the bankruptcy code as it was intended to be applied.”

The airline has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, so an acquisition offer of several million dollars doesn’t exactly make any of those parties whole (especially since the offers don’t include assuming the company’s debt). Heck, Silver Airways owes more to tax authorities than what the takeover offers are. It sure seems that the inevitable is just being pushed down the line…

I don’t see how this doesn’t end in liquidation

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. Much of the carrier’s Florida network fits into the category of “you could drive, or you could take Silver Airways.”

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 four months now, and it seems like the company’s days are limited. A few weeks ago, the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy reported on just how dire the situation is, and how the company really doesn’t have any options to remain in business.

However, liquidation has now been pushed off, as the airline has received a couple of acquisition offers, in the millions of dollars. Those acquisition offers don’t even cover the taxes that the airline owes various authorities, which is why the judge is skeptical of these offers.

Only time will tell how this plays out, though I can’t imagine that Silver Airways will be in business in its current form for much longer.

What do you make of this Silver Airways mess?