Silver Airways abruptly cancels Orlando flights: What to know if you're affected

03.03.2025 - 23:03 / thepointsguy.com

Travelers ran into confusion and disruptions in Florida in recent days. Over the weekend, regional airline Silver Airways abruptly canceled flights out of Orlando, citing issues retaining its leased planes months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Florida-based carrier, which flies throughout Florida and the Caribbean, suddenly canceled all flights out of Orlando International Airport (MCO) beginning on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority confirmed to TPG.

"We received notification Saturday afternoon that, effective immediately, all departing and arriving flights with Silver Airways are canceled," Angela Starke, MCO's senior vice president of public affairs, said in a statement.

By Monday, data from flight tracker FlightAware showed nearly two dozen previously scheduled Silver Airways flights had been canceled out of the Orlando airport.

Across Silver's network, Monday's cancellations amounted to around 9% of all scheduled departures, per FlightAware.

A spokesperson for Silver, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, told TPG that despite its restructuring "going exceedingly well," it ran into issues with its aircraft leased by a third-party company overseas.

The company, Silver said, "abruptly reversed its previously stated position and immediately required Silver to pay millions of dollars to retain the airplanes we have been flying for years," the spokesperson told TPG — and ordered the immediate grounding of the leased aircraft.

"We are working with our customers to rebook itineraries and minimize inconvenience for travelers," Silver said in a statement, noting it "regrets and apologizes for the last-minute cancelations of flights from Orlando International Airport."

The carrier was "diligently working to resolve traveler interruptions and issuing immediate refunds requested by the customer" through its call center.

When the airline filed for bankruptcy in December, it said it hoped to secure new capital and restructure its debt and promised all tickets would "remain valid, and we will continue operating as usual."

Additionally, Silver pledged existing bookings made through partners JetBlue and United Airlines would "experience no disruptions to their bookings or services."

Oftentimes, airlines can continue with normal operations amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization; such was the case for Spirit Airlines following its own filing in November (the company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy later this month).

But it appears Silver has now run into a snag in its plans.

U.S. Department of Transportation rules require airlines to refund passengers for canceled flights, regardless of the reason for the cancellation, if a passenger then