AIR APPARENT Three major airlines declare bankruptcy in September including a company saddled with debt up to $1billion
https://www.the-sun.com/money/9218328/b ... iaero-sas/
THREE major airlines have faced bankruptcy deadlines in the past month following years of turbulence in the travel industry.
Western Global, iAero, and SAS had major deadlines in their bankruptcy proceedings in September.
Three airlines have declared bankruptcy and had major deadlines in September
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Three airlines have declared bankruptcy and had major deadlines in SeptemberCredit: Getty
All three airlines reported losing hundreds of millions of dollars while operating through the pandemic.
Airlines generally struggled through 2020 and 2021 as pandemic lockdowns, lower travel rates, and worker shortages created headwinds throughout the industry.
Some companies faced struggles in 2022 with increasingly inclement weather - particularly Southwest Airlines.
But the industry has largely recovered from the period with high travel rates, increased ticket prices, and new worker's agreements.
Still, these three airlines have plunged into bankruptcy as other factors forced them to assume millions in debt:
1. WESTERN GLOBAL
The Florida-based Western Global airline has been going through bankruptcy proceedings after declaring liabilities between $500million and $1billion.
The company has assets worth between $100million and $500million.
Western Global foretold its financial struggle in a July press statement, saying: "WGA, its CEO and Founder Jim Neff, and its management team are committed to acting in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholder.
"After 10 years of profitable operations and successful growth, the company is currently navigating financial challenges driven by unforeseen industry-wide factors, including the conflict in Ukraine, the weakened global economy and particularly air cargo demand, spiraling costs, and the recurrence of COVID-19 pandemic in China, which disproportionately impacted WGA and its customers.
2. IAERO
The North Carolina-based company with a fleet of 39 Boeing 737s filed for bankruptcy to clear its liabilities between $500million and $1billion.
The company's CEO, Timothy Rainey, told customers that the company will continue to fly products and passengers through the Chapter 11 filing.
Rainey told Aviator: "Our customers remain our top priority and they can continue to depend on us for the same safe, reliable travel and high-quality service they know and expect from us.
"After careful consideration, our board determined it was necessary to take this step now to address our financial strength and restructure certain of our contractual relationships and legacy balance sheet liabilities."
3. SAS
SAS, a Scandinavian airline company, evaluated final bids as a deadline to apply to take on the company's debts passed in late September.
"SAS will announce the winning bidder or bidders as soon as the evaluation process has been completed," the company said in a statement.
The company first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022.
From November 2022 to August 2023, the company reported losing $398million.
The company reported profits in the first quarter after the millions in losses.
"We still have a lot of work ahead of us with our transformation to secure long-term competitiveness, but I consider this a clear sign that we are on the right track," CEO Anko van der Werff said on September 1.
"We continue our ramp-up and will increase capacity this winter."
PP
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