On the second-to-last day of 2024, Florida-based Silver Airways announce that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after exhausting other options to make headway on over $500 million in debts.
The low-cost carrier flies to nearby Caribbean destinations such as Nassau and St. Kitts and repeatedly reassured travelers that it would continue operations as usual just as Spirit Airlines (SAVE) currently is as it looks to restructure.
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A beach is seen in Anguilla, a small British territory in the Caribbean.
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Silver Airways announces that it is ‘suspending operations effective immediately’
But two weeks after announcing the bankruptcy, certain passengers with Silver Airways flights said they were left stranded in a small island in the Caribbean Sea.
In a Jan. 15 Instagram (META) post, Silver Airways said that the government of Anguilla asked it to “violate U.S. law to collect more money than they were entitled.”
“We are suspending our operations in AXA (Anguilla) effectively immediately,” Silver Airways wrote in the post.
Related: Another struggling airline files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The airline said that it was “suspending operations” in the overseas British territory “effective immediately” and “assist[ing] affected passengers with rebooking and other necessary arrangements.”
In actuality, the government of Anguilla revoked Silver’s payment to fly into Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (AXA) due to non-payment of nearly $104,000 in airport fees and taxes charged to any carrier that flies into the country.
‘Has since failed, refused or neglected to settle the outstanding sums’
“Silver Airways was informed that failure to settle the debt, or part thereof, would implicate the grant of the seasonal permit to enter or operate within the Territory,” Anguilla’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Communication, Utilities, Housing & Tourism wrote in a press release. “Regrettably, Silver Airways has since failed, refused and/or neglected to settle the outstanding sums before they have determined it necessary to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.”
While Silver Airways said that any passengers with a ticket to or from Anguilla can reach out to its guest relations team for help with rebooking, some travelers have reported being left on the island without a return flight home.
“This is so passive aggressive,” one commenter wrote underneath the Instagram post in which Silver Airways announced that it was no longer flying into Anguilla and tried to position it as Anguilla charging them too much.
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“I called United (UAL) who my ticket is under (through Silver Airways) and they said ‘sorry they canceled, no reason given,'” a traveler under the mbaker2112 username wrote on a TripAdvisor (TRIP) forum. “‘We can’t fly you from Miami to AXA as its 1000 miles further than SJU to AXA.'”
Other affected passengers reported buying last-minute flights on other airlines that serve Anguilla such as JetBlue (JBLU) and American Airlines (AAL) at spiked prices due to the rush of other travelers also needing to do the same.
A similar situation occurred when Canada Jetlines, a regional carrier out of Toronto that shuttled Canadians to warm destinations such as Cancun and Montego Bay, abruptly filed for bankruptcy and canceled all flights last August.
Several executives walked out while the airline told passengers to “contact their credit card company” for any lost money as it would not be able to help.
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