Silver Airways was a

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with its headquarters in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

, near

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

. It was founded in 2011 with assets from the former

Gulfstream International Airlines Gulfstream International Airlines was a United States airline that operated from 1988 to 2010. The airline primarily operated codeshare agreement, codeshare flights for major airlines. In December 2010, the airline went bankrupt and its assets we ...

, and last operated scheduled flights from its hubs in

and

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Florida, as well as

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The airline started flying on December 15, 2011. Silver Airways received $20,515,042 in annual federal subsidies for

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintain commercial service. Its aim is ...

s that it provided to rural airports in the United States. On June 11, 2025, Silver Airways ceased operations of all flights after selling its assets to Wexford Capital, who elected to discontinue operations of the airline.

History

On November 4, 2010,

filed for

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection. In May 2011, Victory Park Capital bought the assets of Gulfstream International Group, including 21 of Gulfstream's Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, from Raytheon Aircraft Credit Corporation. The company had been operating as Continental Connection on behalf of Continental Airlines. Silver Airways Saab 340B

On December 15, 2011, the airline was rebranded as Silver Airways. That same day, they took delivery of one of six recently purchased

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 differen ...

aircraft. Upon the merger of Continental Airlines into

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

on April 1, 2012, Silver operated as

United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...

until the affiliation with United ended in July 2013. In the first half of 2012, Silver Airways made several moves to turn itself around. Its maintenance facilities were moved from

to Gainesville Regional Airport, taking over the former Eclipse Aviation facility that had remained vacant since 2009. It purchased six more Saab 340 aircraft bringing the Saab fleet to 12. Scheduled service on the Saabs started on the Florida and Bahamas routes. Shortly after, routes were added from Gainesville Regional Airport to

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is the primary international airport located southeast of downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2024, it had 57,211,628 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and ninth busiest airport in the United St ...

and

Tampa International Airport Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective May 15, 2025. The airp ...

began. Silver Airways expanded its network numerous times in the second half of 2012. First,

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

saw scheduled service to destinations in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Silver's Florida route network expanded to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. Service began from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to destinations in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. On August 7, 2012, Silver Airways made national news headlines when one of its flights landed at the wrong airport. In late 2011, Silver Airways began a new operation in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, serving eight cities from a hub at Billings. Seven of the eight cities were served through government subsidies by way of

contracts. The Montana operation lasted for two years, ending by mid-2013. On February 11, 2013, Victory Park Capital announced it had hired industry veteran Dave Pflieger to strengthen and grow the airline. On June 28, 2013, Silver Airways announced that it would cease

operations over the next few months. The announcement came on the heels of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) decision to eliminate subsidized service in two key Montana communities, Lewistown and Miles City. Service ended after the last flights on July 15, 2013, for Lewistown and Miles City. To ensure no interruption of service and a smooth transition for the flying public in the remaining Montana markets serviced by Silver Airways, Silver continued its operations in those communities until such time as the DOT awarded the routes to another airline and the new carrier started service to those communities. In September 2013, Silver Airways announced an expansion of its intra-Florida and Florida–Bahamas network. In 2013, Silver Airways was named one of the Top 10 Best U.S. Airlines in the

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

Traveler's 26th annual Readers' Choice Awards. Cabin interior

In the first half of 2014, Silver Airways made several network changes. It ended Beechcraft 1900 operations in Cleveland's EAS network. Then, Silver Airways closed much of its Atlanta network and redeployed its aircraft to other markets. In February 2014, the airline and its owners, Victory Park Capital, announced they had obtained up to $73 million in additional financing from GB Credit Partners, LLC, the investment management affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group and Crystal Financial LLC. Plans were also made to strengthen its core network and Saab 340B+ fleet. In March 2014, Silver Airways completed its first ever IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). In May 2014, Silver announced a new partnership with JetBlue. In May 2014, Silver Airways announced it was a new stand-alone airline after the launch of its own independent reservations system. CEO Dave Pflieger described the airline as a hybrid carrier, part start-up, part turnaround, both independent, and a partner to a larger airline (United). He also noted that it was "rationalizing" its fleet and network and "only flying where it makes sense," so the airline could not only meet but exceed guests' expectations and continue to grow the airline. In January 2015, Silver Airways added

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Route 98 in Florida, U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pe ...

, to its list of destinations by starting services to

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

and

from the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. It also announced the launch of a direct service between

and Tampa. On February 27, 2015, Silver Airways previewed its new maintenance headquarters at Orlando International Airport. The project was a complete renovation that is home to a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility that includes two large aircraft hangars, each capable of housing three to four aircraft, as well as office space. Silver Airways committed to a long-term 30-year lease from the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority to headquarter its new maintenance facility in Orlando. In August 2015, Silver Airways ended its Gainesville service, several months after missing and restructuring payments on its Gainesville maintenance hangar. On March 2, 2016, Silver Airways filed an application with the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

to provide service from five Florida cities to ten Cuban cities. However, Silver Airways was only granted nine Cuban cities, being denied a Havana route. On June 2, 2016, Silver Airways, Great Lakes Airlines and

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

announced a partnership for recruiting pilots. On September 13, 2016, it was announced that a majority stake of Silver Airways had been acquired by a private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC in Philadelphia. On August 1, 2017, Silver Airways announced an order for 20 ATR 42-600 aircraft, with options for up to 30 more. On April 23, 2018, Silver Airways announced the acquisition of

Seaborne Airlines Seaborne Virgin Island Inc, operating as Seaborne Airlines, is a FAR Part 121 airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico, near the territory's capital of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. It operates a seaplane shuttle service between Saint ...

, a San Juan–based airline serving the Caribbean. In November 2019, Silver Airways created a codeshare partnership with

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

and

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

to provide single ticket booking with baggage transfers to destinations in the Caribbean. In February 2020, Silver Airways announced new services to Charleston International Airport from its hubs in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa; however, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and its impacts on aviation, the services were initially postponed until November 2020, when service was finally started. In March 2020, Silver announced the introduction of its own services to its San Juan base previously acquired along with its subsidiary

, with routes from San Juan launching in phases between March and July 2020 as more of the airline's ATR 42-600 aircraft would be delivered. On November 9, 2021, Silver Airways began contract flying for Amazon Air with feeder flights from Albuquerque and Des Moines to Amazon's hub at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport near Fort Worth, Texas. Silver used two

ATR 72-500 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

aircraft configured for airfreight operations and painted with Amazon's "Prime Air" logo. However, Amazon cut ties with Silver in July 2023, ending the airline's cargo services. On December 30, 2024, Silver Airways filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection. The company planned to continue operations throughout the procedure, and intended to exit bankruptcy by the first quarter of 2025. On March 2, 2025, Silver Airways abruptly ceased flying out of Orlando. At least two aircraft, N408SV and N409SV, ferried from San Juan to Coeur D’Alene (COE). The routing brought them to South Carolina and Sioux Falls, starting on March 1. Additional fleet exits continued through April and into May. Aircraft have ferried to YQS, St. Thomas Airport in Ontario, Canada along with SGD, Sogdenberg, Denmark. In April 2025, Silver Airways warned that its Chapter 11 case may end up converting to Chapter 7, which would result in liquidation. On June 11, 2025, it was reported that Silver Airways would cease all operations effective immediately and it would sell itself to Wexford Capital after no other participating bids came in to purchase its assets. Silver Airways' last flight was Flight 56 from Tampa International Airport to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport operated by N706SV, which arrived at 11:51 p.m. EDT on June 10, 2025.

Facilities

The airline headquarters were located at 2850 Greene Street, Hollywood, FL 33020, in unincorporated

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. Previously its headquarters were in Dania Beach, Florida, also near Fort Lauderdale. The airline also maintained a maintenance facility at

in a facility previously utilized by Comair. In April 2023, the company faced eviction from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for failure to pay rent since 2021.

Destinations

Over its history, Silver Airways domestically operated both scheduled commercial flights originating from its Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa hubs in Florida, as well as

s based in Atlanta (Georgia), Billings (Montana), Boston (Massachusetts), Cleveland (Ohio), and Washington, D.C. Internationally, the airline operated services between Florida and the Bahamas, and in March 2020 began its own operations based in San Juan (Puerto Rico) to surrounding destinations in the Caribbean, alongside those of its subsidiary

. The following table lists destinations that were served by the airline upon its ceasing operations on June 11, 2025:

Interline and codeshare agreements

Silver Airways did not participate in any major global

airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare agreement, codeshare ...

s, but the airline had interline and

codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

s with several airlines. Many of the following airlines are also members of global airline alliances: *

Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias de Colombia S.A.'', "Airways of Colombia", and stylized as avianca since October 2023) is the largest airline in Colombia. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it ...

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...

* Azul Brazilian Airlines * Bahamasair *

Copa Airlines Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., branded as Copa Airlines, is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings and a member o ...

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...

JetBlue Airways JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub a ...

Fleet

, the final Silver Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft at the time of ceasing operations: ATR 42-600 - Silver Airways -2

Historical fleet

References

External links

* {{Continental Connection Carriers 2011 establishments in Florida 2025 disestablishments in Florida Airlines established in 2011 Airlines disestablished in 2025 Airlines based in Florida Companies based in Broward County, Florida Privately held companies based in Florida Regional Airline Association members Regional airlines of the United States American companies established in 2011 American companies disestablished in 2025 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024