Jaunted - Tag: airline bankruptcy

Seven of Our Favorite Defunct Airlines of Yesteryear

jetflyboy — 2012-02-07T14:17:20-05:00

It sure seems like a number of world airlines have been closing up shop recently. Last week, we saw two European carriers cease operations and call it quits. Barcelona-based, Spanair, and the Hungarian flag carrier, Malev, both abruptly stopped flying, stranding passengers all over the continent. Of course, these latest casualties are not the only airlines to make their final approaches.

Let's take a trip down memory lane and reminisce of those airlines we never forget and, secretly, wish we could still fly. These brands never had an iPhone app, some barely had a website, but they will always play a role in the golden age of air travel.

Some of favorite defunct airlines, in no particular order:

Three Years After Skybus Bit the Big One, It's Still Making News

kjb — 2011-03-29T08:26:25-05:00

This is a hard topic for us to discuss, because we’re still bitter about the $9 flights that we had to Southern California that were canceled thanks to a pesky little bankruptcy. Even as we hold back our tears, we feel it’s important to recognize the three-year anniversary of Skybus' going belly up.

Several years after its demise, the defunct airline is still making news, as it continues to payback all those investors and companies that believed in cheap airfare as the next big thing. Despite not making too much cash during its short run, the airline was actually able to pay back most of its creditors. We’re hardly bankruptcy law experts, but apparently paying back unsecured debts is kind of a big deal.

Bankrupt Mexicana Stops All Flights, but They Could Still Come Back

kjb — 2010-08-30T08:56:29-05:00

Apparently that last minute infusion of cash was not enough, as Mexicana and its planes might be going to that big terminal in the sky. Over the weekend, the troubled airline shut down all flights until further notice, as they continued to blame all of their money issues.

Things were struggling on Friday like the past few weeks, but by Saturday afternoon, the planes stayed parked at their gates. Mexicana wants passengers stuck with tickets to visit their website to request a refund. There’s a pretty straightforward refund form that can be filled out online, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be saving your cash anytime soon. For those stuck away from home, Aeromexico is promising to help out, but you’ll still have to spend a little money, as they’re only offering discounts on standby flights.

Saudi LCC Sama Parks Its Planes after Only a Few Years in the Air

kjb — 2010-08-26T08:35:24-05:00

We haven’t had a low cost carrier shut down in a few months, but we knew we wouldn’t make it to the end of the year before finding out about another one. Sama—an LCC from Saudi Arabia—shut things down at the beginning of the week after losing around $266 million.

The airline thought that the government would kind of help them out with things like fuel subsidies, but apparently the help never came through. Sama officials even went looking for some rich people to assist them with one last infusion of cash, kind of like Mexicana, but that also didn’t work out.

Mexicana May Be Saved, but Only Time Will Tell

kjb — 2010-08-24T09:09:20-05:00

Mexicana has not been having a good August, but it looks like a group of fairly wealthy folks want to help the airline end 2010 with a smile.

A group of Mexican investors under the name of "Tenedora K" have put together enough money to buy 95 percent of the troubled airline. They left just enough for the pilots’ union to keep control of the remaining five percent. At this point, Mexicana has not released any information about their sale, but we’d expect to get some news any day now.

Canceled Flights and Unpaid Pilots Aren't Good Signs for Mexicana

kjb — 2010-08-11T10:46:20-05:00

Things are not going well for Mexicana. You already knew that they just became the latest airline to file for bankruptcy, and there’s that whole FAA downgrade thing that has to be a blow to their airline ego. It seems that the bad news is compounding quickly, and we might not be hearing much from them in a few months if their bad luck continues.

Last week the airline suspended ticket sales just days after filing for bankruptcy protection, but the airline promised that they would continue flying for those passengers that already held tickets. The airline hoped that this would give them some time to continue labor talks with some employees, but we just think that this reveals how bad things really are.

Another One Bites the Dust: Mexicana Files for Bankruptcy

Omri — 2010-08-04T17:04:29-05:00

The string of great news for the oneworld airline alliance had to stop some time, and apparently that time was yesterday. That's when ailing Mexican national airline Mexicana officially filed for bankruptcy in the US and Mexico. The move will allow them to keep operating, though it obviously casts doubt on the company's long-term viability. It's also not a particularly positive sign for the airline industry as a whole, which really just can't catch a break.

Still, it's hard to say that this filing was totally unexpected. Between getting their air safety rating downgraded by the FAA and having their planes randomly confiscated by Canadian lessors, the airline wasn't exactly convening an overwhelming ethos of stability.