From Florida to the Bahamas to various Caribbean islands, travelers stranded by the shutdown of Silver Airways started the process of seeking refunds for flights not taken, while blind-sided employees whose livelihoods were suddenly cut off asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to help them.
The moment the Hollywood-based regional carrier concluded its final flight at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport late last Tuesday, airline officials quickly let it be known that travelers booked to fly in the future can obtain refunds through their credit card companies.
Nick Ewen, senior editorial director of the online travel site The Points Guy, acknowledged that’s the case. But for those customers who ended up stranded somewhere, there’s an incalculable number of people who have faced considerable complications arranging extended stays and alternate flights.
Vivian Premock, a Fort Lauderdale resident visiting Harbor Island in the Bahamas, said Friday that she, her husband and their two children flew Silver to their vacation destination on June 5. But on Wednesday morning, Silver notified the family their return flight was canceled
“I got an email saying ‘your flights have been canceled,’ period,” she told the Sun Sentinel on Friday. “There was no explanation.”
Shifting airlines — and plans
Now Premock and the children are flying American Eagle out of North Eleuthera to Miami International Airport on Monday. Her husband is taking a six-hour boat ride back to South Florida.
“We had another friend who was also leaving on Wednesday and their flight was also canceled,” Premock said. “They had to book a hotel and then fly out on American.”
She said her family was able to stay with friends, eliminating the need for a hotel. Still, she’s leaving Monday — a day later than anticipated — and will miss a day of work.
“Obviously an inconvenience,” she said. “We were lucky we were in a situation where we can afford an additional amount — this is an expensive trip as it is. When we were at the [Fort Lauderdale] airport it didn’t seem like anybody had any idea that this was coming.”
Premock said she is following the process of retrieving the family money for the canceled return Silver flight through her credit card company.
Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel
Silver Airways, the South Florida regional carrier that shut down last week while in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, is under fire from angry employees who assert management betrayed them. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel file)
Ewen of The Points Guy said that’s the way to go.
“If you booked an upcoming flight with Silver and ideally you used a credit card, the proper method is to contact your credit card company and file for a chargeback or a disputed charge,” he said. Customers should point out that their flights were canceled because the airline ceased operations.
“The credit card company will immediately give you a temporary credit,” he said, “pending a final decision.”
It’s no different, he said, than a person who ordered a retail product online only to find it damaged upon delivery.
High success rate
“The chances of this being successful are very, very high,” Ewen said. “They are not able to supply that service and you are entitled to get your money back.”
But for passengers who got stuck on one of those out-of-the way island enclaves?
“Unfortunately, there is not a lot of recourse they can pursue right now,” he said. Extended hotel accommodations are likely hard to come by, although it wouldn’t hurt to ask the hotel management.
In the meantime, customers can pursue the standard refund route for the canceled return flight. Credit card companies, he said, “should be able to initiate that same process for a return portion of their flight.”
People who had the foresight to buy travel insurance protection might have a shot at receiving a reimbursement, but many policies do not offer payments in the event of a company’s insolvency or default, Ewen said. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Dec. 30, said it was forced to close because its prospective buyer elected not to operate the carrier after signing a buyout deal.
Passengers who flew aboard JetBlue Airways or United Airlines, both of which had code-sharing arrangements with Silver to fly passengers to their final island destinations, are likely experiencing difficulty returning home. Few carriers flew to locations served by Silver.
“I can’t off the top of my head think of any Silver destinations connected to a United or JetBlue itinerary where they could offer a replacement service,” Ewen said.
But JetBlue did tell The Points Guy that the airline is “working to support those with codeshare and interline itineraries by offering alternate travel plans or refunds.”
As with most everyone else, JetBlue said it did not receive advance notice that Silver was shutting down.
An over-the-top long-shot resort for a passenger is to file a claim with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, but in Silver’s case, the would-be buyer, a financial firm that submitted what is known as a credit bid for the airline’s basic assets, is not offering any compensation for claims incurred after the airline filed for Chapter 11.
Under a proposed revised deal made public Wednesday, Argentum Acquisition Co., an affiliate of Wexford Capital of West Palm Beach and Connecticut, would acquire Silver free of any claims and attachments, including obligations flowing from collective bargaining agreements with the carrier’s labor unions.
A lawyer for Wexford Capital made it clear the financial group has no intention of operating Silver as a going concern. Its thin finances had deteriorated further, he noted, after the Federal Aviation Administration in late May temporarily grounded Silver over outdated battery kits for the carrier’s planes. The episode cost the airline $1 million in lost revenue.
Unions, individual workers object
The decision to keep the airline closed has drawn a strong objection from the airline’s labor unions — the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents the pilots, and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. In a joint filing in the court of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Peter Russin, who has yet to formally approve the proposed revised deal, the two unions argue Argentum is obliged to honor their labor contracts and back pay.
In a statement, Sara Nelson, president of the AFA, which represents over 55,000 attendants at 20 airlines, said the union opposes the revised deal “because Wexford is attempting to subvert the collective bargaining agreement. Based on the filings, it appears that Wexford is trying to set up a separate entity to do the same flying currently covered under our contract.”
“Flight Attendants were supposed to be paid today, but only were paid 45% of what they’re due,” Nelson wrote in an emailed statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Silver flight attendants are owed wages, deferred moving expenses, vacation, sick leave, and medical bills. The company also must abide by the WARN act meaning Flight Attendants are entitled to wages for 60 days.”
Thus far, the airline has not notified the state that it laid off most of its work force.
“Our union will do everything we can to get this in front of the judge,” Nelson added. “We will stop at nothing to ensure Silver flight attendants are made whole.”
In their own individual court filings, six former employees — including a worker in the Bahamas, flight attendants and other employees in Florida — asked the court to consider requests to compel Argentum to pay back wages.
In letters that accompanied their court filings, some accused Silver CEO Steven Rossum of failing to protect their interests. In response to one letter, he said he did the best he could to find a buyer and preserve jobs, while making financial sacrifices of his own.
Russin, who at the end of a Wednesday hearing on the sale expressed sympathy directly toward more than a dozen employees in his Fort Lauderdale courtroom, has set a June 24 hearing to hear the individual employees’ claims.