SNV - Bankrupt Charter Airline iAero to Cease Operations | Benzinga
Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, iAero operates several narrowbody cargo jets for DHL Express. Other customers include the National Hockey League and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The airline's main flying base is at Miami International Airport.
"It is with great regret that without continuing DIP financing from our lenders or an alternative lender, we have been directed to prepare to suspend all revenue operations of the airline at the end of the day on April 6" Rainey said Monday in a memo to staff members that that was obtained by FreightWaves.
The airline received $22.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV) when it filed for bankruptcy reorganization last September and an additional $5 million in March, which allowed it to keep operating.
Synovus, which has first priority over the company's assets, recently agreed to sell 28 Boeing 737 passenger aircraft to Eastern Airlines in exchange for assuming $71 million in first-lien debt, but iAero has been unable to find anyone interested in running the DHL cargo and NHL business, said Rainey.
iAero, founded in 1997 as Swift Air before its 2019 acquisition by iAero Group, is one of the few domestic passenger airlines to still operate older Boeing 737 Classics. It has about 30 active aircraft and a dozen more parked or in storage. The operating fleet includes about eight 737-300s and 11 737-400s, plus a dozen newer 737-800s, according to various fleet databases.
As of September, iAero ...