Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
Kiwi International Airlines has moved closer to extinction, with bankruptcy trustee Charles Stanziale requesting US court permission to liquidate the few remaining assets of the carrier.
Chapter 7 liquidation is expected to be approved this month. Newark, New Jersey-based Kiwi ceased operating on 24 March and owes more than $20 million, including $12 million to the US Government. It recently auctioned office furniture to help repay a state loan. It will sell aircraft spares later this month.
While Kiwi apparently heads for oblivion, Pan American World Airways, which halted scheduled operations when it filed for bankruptcy protection in February last year, has permission from the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to resume services.
It has operated as a charter carrier since being acquired by Guilford Transportation in June last year, but will now offer scheduled flights from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Orlando, Florida, using Boeing 727-200s configured in 150-seat business-only layout.
The airline plans to add flights from Orlando to San Juan, Puerto Rico, within 45 days of initiating services, and hopes to move 150,000 passengers in its first year. Guilford had once aimed to acquire Kiwi, but dropped the plan.
US start-up Community Air has also become a casualty, after failing to secure funding to begin operations with 10-seat Pilatus PC-12 single turboprops. A $35 million financing deal with New York's Structured Funding Group fell through, and the carrier failed to find alternative funding. Community Air is believed to have made an unsuccessful approach to Mesa, Arizona-based Native American Air Ambulance Service, which operates four PC-12s.
The regional entrant had planned to take advantage of new US regulations on single-engined instrument flight rules passenger operations to serve rural communities in northern California. It held orders for 11 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B-powered PC-12s, plus options on a further 21. Pilatus says the collapse will not have a major impact, although it delays the manufacturer's entry into the US regional market.
Source: Flight International
