US-based Silver Airways shuts down after financial woes and Chapter 11 filing

Silver Airways, the Florida-based regional carrier best known for flying flamingo-pink turboprops on flights around the Southeast US and the Caribbean, has finally thrown in the towel and closed down all operations after several months of financial woes. The airline had been struggling for a significant length of time and had most recently been undergoing a period of restructuring under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. However, the filing was evidently not enough to save the airline carrier from cancelling all future flights on June 11, 2025.

The company had filed for Chapter 11 at the end of 2024 with debts mounting and creditors circling. With the bankruptcy filing, Silver had been hoping to obtain more capital and undergo a financial restructuring to “strengthen” its position, the airline said in December 2024. However, fortunes had not turned around for the carrier, and only in March 2025, the airline cancelled all future operations at its Orlando International Airport (MCO) hub.      

HMBSoFL Photography / ShutterstockThen, having failed to receive any bids at a recent bankruptcy auction held in early June 2025, the carrier planned to sell its remaining assets to a holding company. However, once the holding company declared that it did not intend to continue shielded flight operations, the immediate decision was taken to close the airline down. A notice was subsequently posted on the airline’s social media channels stating the following –

“We regret to inform you that we are ceasing operations as of today, June 11, 2025. In an attempt to restructure in bankruptcy, we entered into a transaction to sell its assets to another airline holding company, which has unfortunately determined not to continue Silver’s flight operations in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Please do not go to the airport. All credit card purchases should be refunded through your credit card company or travel agency.”

The move to shut down the airline entirely brought the curtain down on 14 years of passenger flight operations and grounded the airline’s fleet of three ATR42-600s and five ATR72-600s. According to ch-aviation, the carrier operated 18 routes to 16 destinations across seven countries. The airline was known for flying its aircraft in an eye-catching bright pink livery featuring an image of a flamingo on the tail.

Silver Airways operated its first passenger flights in 2011 when investment firm  Victory Park Capital acquired the assets of Gulfstream International Airlines, a Florida-based regional carrier that had filed for bankruptcy in 2010. The investment firm poured enough capital into the defunct carrier to breathe new life into it, resurrecting it as Silver Airways and initially employing a fleet of Beech 1900s and Saab SF340 turboprops on short-sector flights across Florida.

Wenjie Zheng / ShutterstockOver the years, these types were phased out of the fleet in favor of the more efficient ATR turboprop. Nassau, Bimini, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten in the Dutch Antilles were among just some of the tropical destinations served by Silver Airways, in addition to a handful of cities in Florida, including Key West, Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Tampa. The airline had its base in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Having developed as a niche player in a niche market, Silver Airways had been struggling to find its way back to health following the pandemic, a situation that was exacerbated by rising operating costs, crew shortages, and increasing competition from the US major carriers. According to data firm Cirium, the airline was due to operate almost 1,600 scheduled passenger flights in June 2025. It is understood that the eight aircraft of Silver Airways have all been, or are in the process of being repossessed by their leasing company owners.

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