The Silver Airways brand may be revived in Alaska following the financial collapse of the Florida-based regional carrier earlier this year.
Newly established Argentum Airways stepped in with a plan to acquire Silver’s air operator’s certificate (AOC) and restart operations, after Silver ceased flying across its network in the Southeast USA and Caribbean in June.
In July, Argentum – which is the Latin word for “silver” – requested from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) an expedited approval process to quickly restart operations and “preserve jobs using the assets it acquired from Silver”.
The DOT said in a response that the approval process would move more quickly if the AOC was registered to the trade name “Silver Airways”, prompting Argentum to file a 6 August request to register that trade name to itself.
Orlando-based Argentum also requests to register the trade name Aleutian Airways.
An operating plan submitted on 23 July calls for Argentum to position one ATR 42-600 turboprop aircraft in Anchorage. Whether Argentum’s plan will see Silver’s signature pink flamingo-themed livery on ATR aircraft operating within Alaska remains an open question.
Notably, Argentum says it plans to soon execute a lease agreement for an ATR-42 from lessor Azorra.
While the airline company plans to initially operate a single ATR-42, it requests ”the flexibility to also operate” the 70-seat ATR 72-600 “if and when the need arises”.
“Argentum anticipates that it will likely do so by the end of the first year, or within the second year,” it says.
The business plan calls for a slow ramp up in quarterly departures, to more than a thousand departures by its fourth quarter of operations, when it will likely add an ATR-72 to its fleet.
Argentum anticipates incurring more than $14 million in costs during the first year of operations, and reports holding nearly $4.5 million in cash. It does not disclose projected operating profits or losses for its first year.
Fort Lauderdale-based Silver filed for financial restructuring through bankruptcy on 30 December, followed by a court-supervised auction of the airline’s assets. The DOT filing explains that, following the auction, Argentum was established as a special purpose acquisition company by parent Wexford Capital.
Wexford also owns Sterling Airways, which operates in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands under the Aleutian Airways brand. Wayne Heller, a former Republic Airways executive, is listed as Argentum’s chief executive.
Aleutian Airways’ website shows that it flies out of Anchorage to Kenai, Homer, King Salmon, Sand Point, Cold Bay and Dutch Harbor.
