Silver Airways Corp., operating as Silver Airways, is a United States airline with its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in unincorporated Broward County, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. It was founded in 2010 with assets from the former Gulfstream International Airlines, and currently operates around 170 daily scheduled flights to 10 cities in Florida and 8 destinations in the Bahamas, with hubs at Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa.
As of November 2013 Silver Airways received $20,515,042 in annual Federal subsidies for Essential Air Services that it provided to rural airports in the United States.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
On November 4, 2010, Gulfstream International Airlines filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy 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.
On December 15, 2011, the airline was rebranded as Silver Airways. That same day, they took delivery of one of six recently purchased Saab 340B+ aircraft.
In the first half of 2012, Silver Airways made several moves to turn the company around. Its maintenance facilities were moved from Fort Lauderdale to Gainesville Regional Airport, taking over the former Eclipse Aviation facility that had remained vacant since 2009. It purchased six more Saab 340B+ aircraft bringing the Saab fleet to 12.
Scheduled service on the Saabs started on the Florida and Bahamas routes. Shortly after, routes from Gainesville Regional Airport to Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport began.
Silver Airways expanded their network numerous times in the second half of 2012. First, Washington Dulles International Airport started scheduled service to destinations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. Its Florida route network expanded to Jacksonville. And service began from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to destinations in Mississippi and Alabama.
On August 7, 2012, Silver Airways made national news headlines when one of its flights landed at the wrong airport.
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 Montana 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 prestigious Condé Nast Traveler's 26th annual Readers' Choice Awards.
In the first half of 2014, Silver Airways made several network changes. It ended Beech 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.
In February, 2014, Silver Airways announced it planned to exit its Cleveland Network, retire its Beech 1900Ds, and strengthen its core network and Saab 340B Plus 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 to its list of destinations, by starting services to Orlando and Tampa from the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. It also announced the launch of a direct service between Jacksonville and Tampa.
On February 27, 2015 Silver Airways previewed its new maintenance headquarters at Orlando International Airport. The project is a complete renovation that will be home to a 38,000 square-foot 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 has 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 to provide service from five Florida cities to ten Cuban cities. However, later, Silver Airways was only granted nine Cuban cities, being denied the Havana route.
On June 2, 2016 Silver Airways, Great Lakes Airlines & Frontier Airlines announced a partnership for recruiting pilots.
On September 13, 2016 it was announced that a majority stake of Silver Airways has 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.
Facilities
The airline headquarters are located in Suite 201 of the 1100 Lee Wagener Boulevard building on the property of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in unincorporated Broward County, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. Previously its headquarters were in Dania Beach, Florida, also near Fort Lauderdale. The airline also maintains a maintenance facility at Orlando International Airport in a facility previously utilized by Comair.
Destinations
Silver Airways is the largest U.S. carrier to the Bahamas, operating more daily flights to more points throughout the multi-island country than any other airline. In its home state of Florida, Silver Airways serves more gateways with more daily flights than any other airline.
Domestic
Florida
- Fort Lauderdale - Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Hub
- Fort Myers - Southwest Florida International Airport
- Jacksonville - Jacksonville International Airport
- Key West - Key West International Airport
- Miami - Miami International Airport
- Orlando - Orlando International Airport Hub
- Pensacola - Pensacola International Airport
- Tallahassee - Tallahassee International Airport
- Tampa - Tampa International Airport Hub
- West Palm Beach - Palm Beach International Airport
Louisiana
- New Orleans - New Orleans International Airport (begins August 30, 2018)
Illinois
- Chicago - Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (begins August 30, 2018)
Texas
- Houston - Houston-George Bush Intercontinental Airport (begins August 30, 2018)
Missouri
- Branson - Branson Airport (begins August 30, 2018) Focus city
International
Bahamas
- Bimini - South Bimini Airport
- Freeport - Grand Bahama International Airport
- George Town - Exuma International Airport
- Governor's Harbour - Governor's Harbour Airport
- Marsh Harbour - Marsh Harbour Airport
- Nassau - Lynden Pindling International Airport
- North Eleuthera - North Eleuthera Airport
- Treasure Cay, Abaco - Treasure Cay Airport
Silver Airways does not participate in any major global airline alliances, but the airline has interline and codeshare agreements with several airlines. Many of these airlines are members of global airline alliances.
- Air Canada
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- All Nippon Airways
- Avianca
- Azul Brazilian Airlines
- Bahamasair
- Delta Air Lines
- JetBlue Airways
- United Airlines
Fleet
The Silver Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Source of the article : Wikipedia
EmoticonEmoticon