Latest news with #RobertW.Mann
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Airline cancels all flights, shuts down leaving travelers stranded
Silver Airways, a regional airline based in Florida, abruptly canceled all flights on Wednesday, June 11, leaving travelers stranded after announcing bankruptcy. "We regret to inform you that we are ceasing operations as of today, June 11, 2025," the Fort-Lauderdale-based company posted on it social media pages. "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." The carrier operates in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. "Please do not go to the airport," the airline wrote. "All credit card purchases should be refundable through your credit card company or your travel agency." The move, the company reported on social media, came after a potential buyer decided not to fund the airline's operations during a sale out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. As the airline wrote on social media, all tickets purchased by credit card will be fully refundable to the form of purchase. According to Robert W. Mann, Jr., a former airline executive officer and current president of R. W. Mann and Co., an independent airline consultancy, tickets not purchased by credit card will still be eligible for refunds, but those would-be passengers will have to get in line with other airline creditors. Passengers with tickets who need to travel soon will likely need to purchase tickets on other airlines at higher prices, according to Mann. It's very rare for airlines in the U.S. to completely go out of business. Often, struggling airlines get purchased by other carriers or folded into another company's operations. According to Mann, a few small regional airlines that operated on behalf of larger carriers went out of business during the height of the COVID pandemic, but those larger airlines reshuffled service to bridge the gap. Other smaller airlines like Tailwind, which provided scheduled seaplane service between New York and Boston, have also gone out of business more recently. Tailwind shut down operations in 2024, according to Mann. (This story was updated to add new information.) Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Silver Airways bankruptcy: Flights canceled after airline shuts down
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Airline cancels all flights, shuts down leaving travelers stranded
Silver Airways, a regional airline based in Florida, abruptly canceled all flights on Wednesday, June 11, leaving travelers stranded after announcing bankruptcy. "We regret to inform you that we are ceasing operations as of today, June 11, 2025," the Fort-Lauderdale-based company posted on it social media pages. "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." The carrier operates in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. "Please do not go to the airport," the airline wrote. "All credit card purchases should be refundable through your credit card company or your travel agency." Why did Silver Airways shut down? The move, the company reported on social media, came after a potential buyer decided not to fund the airline's operations during a sale out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Silver Airways ticketing county at Jacksonville International Airport. Biz 05jiaupdate01231 What happens to passengers with tickets on Silver Airways? As the airline wrote on social media, all tickets purchased by credit card will be fully refundable to the form of purchase. According to Robert W. Mann, Jr., a former airline executive officer and current president of R. W. Mann and Co., an independent airline consultancy, tickets not purchased by credit card will still be eligible for refunds, but those would-be passengers will have to get in line with other airline creditors. Passengers with tickets who need to travel soon will likely need to purchase tickets on other airlines at higher prices, according to Mann. What was the last US airline to shut down? It's very rare for airlines in the U.S. to completely go out of business. Often, struggling airlines get purchased by other carriers or folded into another company's operations. According to Mann, a few small regional airlines that operated on behalf of larger carriers went out of business during the height of the COVID pandemic, but those larger airlines reshuffled service to bridge the gap. Other smaller airlines like Tailwind, which provided scheduled seaplane service between New York and Boston, have also gone out of business more recently. Tailwind shut down operations in 2024, according to Mann. (This story was updated to add new information.) Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Silver Airways bankruptcy: Flights canceled after airline shuts down
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Airline cancels all flights, shuts down leaving travelers stranded
Silver Airways, a regional airline based in Florida, abruptly canceled all flights on Wednesday, June 11, leaving travelers stranded after announcing bankruptcy. "We regret to inform you that we are ceasing operations as of today, June 11, 2025," the Fort-Lauderdale-based company posted on it social media pages. "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." The carrier operates in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. "Please do not go to the airport," the airline wrote. "All credit card purchases should be refundable through your credit card company or your travel agency." The move, the company reported on social media, came after a potential buyer decided not to fund the airline's operations during a sale out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. As the airline wrote on social media, all tickets purchased by credit card will be fully refundable to the form of purchase. According to Robert W. Mann, Jr., a former airline executive officer and current president of R. W. Mann and Co., an independent airline consultancy, tickets not purchased by credit card will still be eligible for refunds, but those would-be passengers will have to get in line with other airline creditors. Passengers with tickets who need to travel soon will likely need to purchase tickets on other airlines at higher prices, according to Mann. It's very rare for airlines in the U.S. to completely go out of business. Often, struggling airlines get purchased by other carriers or folded into another company's operations. According to Mann, a few small regional airlines that operated on behalf of larger carriers went out of business during the height of the COVID pandemic, but those larger airlines reshuffled service to bridge the gap. Other smaller airlines like Tailwind, which provided scheduled seaplane service between New York and Boston, have also gone out of business more recently. Tailwind shut down operations in 2024, according to Mann. (This story was updated to add new information.) Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund
USA Today
30-01-2025
- General
- USA Today
Deadly mid-air collision renews urgent questions about US air safety, near-misses
AI-assisted summary A recent mid-air collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter was the first major fatal plane crash in the U.S. since 2009. Experts point to increased air traffic congestion as a contributing factor to a rise in near-misses and close calls at airports. While the rate of runway incursions has fluctuated over the past decade, it decreased in 2024 compared to previous years. A deadly mid-air collision between a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday was the first major fatal plane crash in the U.S. since 2009. The crash occurred as an American Airlines flight, operated by its regional affiliate PSA, from Wichita, Kansas, approached Virginia's Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. There have been a number of near-misses and other close calls around the country in recent years that concerned experts and officials. 'As air travel demand grows, more and more aircraft are in the sky, more and more helicopters are in the sky, and it creates a more congested and more complex control environment, especially near major hubs but also en route, and that just creates greater challenges,' Robert W. Mann, Jr., a former airline executive officer and current president of R. W. Mann and Company, an independent airline consultancy, told USA TODAY. 'The complexity of traffic and the density of traffic in terminal areas of large airports – that's what's driving an increasing number of incursions, runway incursions, taxiways incursions, incidents of aircraft damage on the ground, and in some cases, real tragedies.' Recent high-profile close calls at US airports January 2023: Delta Air Lines and American Airlines planes nearly collided at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines planes nearly collided at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. February 2023 : A Southwest Airlines aircraft and FedEx cargo plane came within 100 feet of each other at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. : A Southwest Airlines aircraft and FedEx cargo plane came within 100 feet of each other at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. February 2023: There was another close call between a JetBlue flight preparing to land at Boston Logan International Airport and a Learjet that took off without clearance. There was another close call between a JetBlue flight preparing to land at Boston Logan International Airport and a Learjet that took off without clearance. April 2024: JetBlue and Southwest planes were cleared on a collision path at Reagan Washington National before air traffic controllers warned them to stop. JetBlue and Southwest planes were cleared on a collision path at Reagan Washington National before air traffic controllers warned them to stop. May 2024: An American Airlines plane ceased takeoff at Reagan Washington National after another aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. How common are close calls? Not all of the close calls have been mid-air collisions that were narrowly avoided. Many were runway incursions, which involve 'the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take off of aircraft,' the FAA said on its website. Then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told USA TODAY in March 2023 that the incidents had been caused by multiple factors, including controller training and pilot error. "It's enough that I'm concerned,' he said at the time. In August of that year, FAA data showed that the rate of runway incursions had increased almost 25% from a decade earlier, The New York Times reported. The trend had shown improvement since 2018, however. U.S. officials have taken steps to address the issue, from investing in airport runway lighting to enhancing controller training with modernized simulators. The rest period for controllers was also raised from nine hours to 10 between shifts, with at least 12 hours of rest before midnight shifts. There were 30 runway incursions for every 1 million takeoffs and landings in 2024, down from 33 the year prior and 32 in 2022, according to the FAA. 'In the first three months of 2024, the rate of serious incidents (Category A and B) decreased by 59 percent from the same period in 2023, from 0.56 per one million airport operations to 0.23 per one million operations,' the agency said. The rate has fluctuated over the past decade, peaking at 35 incursions per 1 million takeoffs and landings in 2017 and 2018 and a low of 28 in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While experts say the aviation system remains largely safe, they agree that it's incumbent upon regulators and the industry as a whole to remain vigilant and do everything in their power to continually improve that record. 'It's very clear that the amount of (fight) activity continues to increase ... The risk here is, and as I always used to discuss with my people, is the safety culture, the training, maintenance, the overall perception of safety.' Mann said. 'It's a very safe system. It can always be safer. That's up to every operator, every person operating in that system, and that's up to the regulators who oversee it.'
