Based in Fort Lauderdale, the carrier operates a fleet of ATR-600 turboprops for passenger and freight services. The Broward County Board of commissioners will discuss whether to end Silver's lease during their regular meeting on April 18. The board has received several default notices regarding the county's efforts to recover an amount from Silver that once surpassed $1 million.
The outstanding amount the airline currently owes the county for its terminal operations at Fort Lauderdale is uncertain. Silver's CEO, Steve Rossum, stated that the airline is still negotiating its lease with county officials. Although Broward County received a payment proposal from Silver on November 11, 2022, it deemed the offer unacceptable and nearly identical to one submitted a year earlier.
The county asserts that Silver Airways failed to meet its obligations under the lease and use agreement (LUA) and terminal building lease agreement (TBLA), which were signed on January 13, 2015. At the time of a January 3, 2022, letter from the county's director of aviation, Mark Gale, the airline owed just over $1 million in overdue rental fees. Broward County claims it tried negotiating a payment plan, but Silver did not fulfill its obligations.
A September 1 follow-up notice from Broward County revealed that Silver owed almost $800,000, including approximately $140,000 in TBLA late fees and $110,000 in LUA late fees. A December 12 letter stated the total debt as $958,000, after the county applied the carrier's security deposit as credit.
Silver Airlines has not yet commented on the situation.
The airline serves the Southeastern USA, including Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, as well as the Caribbean. In 2018, Silver acquired Caribbean-serving Seaborne Airlines. Silver's fleet comprises eight ATR 42-600s and nine ATR 72-600s, per Cirium fleets data.
These challenges come amid a significant reduction in regional air service, as consulting firm Oliver Wyman recently highlighted over 900 regional jets parked across North America and Western Europe in its annual fleet forecast.
