Silver Airways (3M, Fort Lauderdale International) faces being evicted from Fort Lauderdale International airport over nearly USD1 million in fees and charges it has not paid for over a year, according to documents of Florida's Broward County, which owns and manages the public facility.
At a meeting on April 18, the Broward County Commission will consider a motion to approve the termination of a terminal building lease agreement and lease & use agreement between Broward County and Silver Airways, the meeting's agenda reveals. If terminated, the County will send an eviction notice to Silver Airways; and may take legal steps to recover all amounts owed.
ch-aviation has reached out to Silver Airways for comment.
According to the supporting documents for the meeting, on January 3, 2022, Broward County Aviation Department CEO/Director of Aviation, Mark E. Gale sent a notice of default to Silver Airways, stating the County's right to terminate the lease agreements should the parties not reach an amicable repayment plan within 30 days. He said Silver Airways had failed to comply with lease agreements dating from 2015 by not paying rentals, charges, and fees when due. "The County has made several attempts to negotiate with Silver for the remittance of the outstanding balance, and Silver has failed to honour its obligations to the County. The options in Silver's most recent proposal fall short of the County's expectation for Silver to satisfy its financial obligations, which total USD1,044,426.04, most of which is delinquent".
On January 4, 2022, the County temporarily rescinded the notice of default after Silver Airways disputed the amount owed. The rescission was conditional on Silver Airways paying USD546,305.56 before January 11, 2022. The parties had discussed working together to resolve any accounting discrepancies and reach a mutually acceptable repayment plan.
On September 1, 2022, the County attorneys sent another notice of default to Silver Airways CEO Steve Rossum, now claiming a total of USD790,799 was due, most of which was "seriously delinquent".
In a letter on December 15, 2022, the County notified Rossum that it had drawn Silver Airways' entire security deposit of USD113,634.00 to partly mitigate damages resulting from the airline's defaults. At the same time, it demanded that Silver Airways replenish within ten days the deposit with USD407,740 representing three months' estimated rentals, fees, and charges. According to the County, Silver Airways owed USD957,750, of which USD260,761 in late payments, by December 12, 2022.
A regional airline, Silver Airways, expanded in 2018 when it acquired Seaborne Airlines (BB, San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin). Last year, it raised USD50 million in new funding to expand its fleet, pivoting away from 50-seater ATR42-600s to bigger ATR72-600s. The carrier leases eight ATR42-600s (with seven more on order) and four ATR72-600s. It was resuming its growth plan that was delayed for about six months because of the lack of pilots plaguing the US regional industry. It was also looking to expand its route network in the Caribbean and the US mainland.
