Financially troubled US cargo carrier Southern Air Transport (SAT), which has been up for sale for some time, ceased operations on 25 September. The airline plans to liquidate assets as it contemplates filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors.
The end came after first Fine Air Services, and then Kitty Hawk, terminated negotiations to acquire SAT after inspecting the company's finances.
Privately held SAT, which had recently moved from Miami International, in Florida, to a leased maintenance facility at Columbus, Ohio's Rickenbacker International Airport, operated a fleet of five leased Boeing 747-200 freighters, which are now parked. Eleven Lockheed L-100 Hercules turboprops had already been retired and stored in Marana, Arizona, and remain on the market. Meanwhile, three General Electric CF6-powered Boeing 747-200 freighters operated by Cargolux, but earmarked for SAT, have been acquired by Atlas Air, boosting the growing US cargo charter carrier's 747F fleet to 28. All three of the aircraft will be delivered to Atlas Air in the fourth quarter of this year, and two will immediately be leased back to Cargolux.
Southern has dismissed nearly 500 workers, including flightcrew, mechanics and support personnel. It has retained 30 workers to assist in the sale of remaining company assets. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing remains a "possibility", says the company. Creditors include the state of Ohio, which gave SAT $500,000 to move to Rickenbacker International.
No additional "white knight" has stepped in to rescue SAT, says the carrier.
Source: Flight International
