Bankrupt airline left flight attendants without paychecks, court hears

The low-cost Florida airline formally closed up operations on June 11.

Jun 26, 2025 - 17:32

Bankrupt airline left flight attendants without paychecks, court hears

On June 11, Fort Lauderdale vacation airline Silver Airways formally ended six months of looking for a way out of bankruptcy by accepting a stalking horse offer of $5.77 million.

As the offer will not even make a dent in the more than $500 million that the airline owes its creditors, the hedge fund that took it over made the immediate call to cease all operations.

Silver put out an Instagram post telling travelers with booked tickets to "not go to the airport" and instead seek refunds from their credit card provider or travel agency, as the airline would not be able to provide them.

"In an attempt to restructure in bankruptcy, Silver entered into a transaction to sell its assets to another airline holding company who unfortunately has determined to not continue Silver's flight operations in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean," the airline said in its last public statement.

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'I learned about the shutdown through a midnight email': former flight attendant

But while many passengers were left out several hundred or even several thousand dollars, dozens of Silver flight attendants were also left without jobs and are now sending emotional letters for Southern District of Florida Judge Peter D. Russin to consider in court.

"We were not given any warning or official communication in advance," Irving Peña, who was employed as a ramp agent for Silver Airways at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, wrote in a letter. "I learned about the shutdown through a midnight email."

Local outlet Virgin Islands Consortium reported that six other Silver employees have made similar complaints, while former flight attendant Jenny Ramirez said Silver’s problems began "when the latest CEO and CFO joined the company."

"The operational leadership became subpar and was spiraling downward with no intervention or leadership from Mr. Steve Rossum," Ramirez, who worked with the airline for 12 years, wrote in her own letter to Russin referring to the chief executive who had been leading Silver since 2017.

Ramirez and several other flight attendants have reported not receiving their final paychecks or accrued leave.

Silver Airways first filed for bankruptcy in December 2024.
Image source: Shutterstock

'Silver management is getting away with so much'

"Silver management is getting away with so much," Maria Salinas, who worked with Silver for 13 years, wrote in the letter. "We worked so hard May and June."

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Between May 28 and June 4, the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Florida held an auction hoping to secure more than the $5.77 million stalking-horse offer made by Argentum Acquisition, a hedge with a history of taking on troubled airlines.

Some of the debts that Silver had accrued at the time it filed for bankruptcy included $104,000 in airport fees to Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (the British overseas territory of Anguilla eventually revoked the airline’s ability to fly into the airport over nonpayment) and a respective $84,000 and $385,000 owed to airports in Tallahassee and Tampa.

Considered unsecured creditors with small unpaid debts for the purposes and bankruptcy proceedings, both Silver employees and travelers with non-refunded flights are at the bottom of the priority list for any funds secured by liquidation of assets.