SeaPort Airlines files for bankruptcy
Stops flying; judge orders Chapter 7 liquidation of assets
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A small passenger airline that tried to connect Mid-South cities and Memphis after Delta Air Lines closed the local hub has filed for bankruptcy.
SeaPort Airlines said it has ceased Memphis operations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy code covers the liquidation of assets. A judge ordered the liquidation Tuesday.
The Portland, Oregonbased carrier offered passenger service to Harrison and Hot Springs, Arkansas, out of Memphis International Airport’s Signature Flight Support. Memphis airport officials said they would work with affected cities to maintain air connections to Memphis and the Mid-South.
In February, SeaPort had filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which let it stay in business while a plan was drafted to repay creditors.
Early in 2015, SeaPort expanded rapidly to 26 cities in 10 states, including Greenville, Mississippi; Tupelo, Mississippi; and Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
The commuter line stepped in after Delta bought Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines in 2008 and began scaling back service in favor of Delta’s massive operation in Atlanta.
Northwest had operated a network of feeder flights between Mid-South cities and Memphis, where more than 300 daily departures made Memphis International the carrier’s southern hub.
In March 2015, SeaPort asked U.S. regulators to be let out of the Essential Air Service subsidy contract covering service to Greenville. At the time, SeaPort marketing director Claire James cited a pilot shortage, telling the Greenville Delta Democrat newspaper the airline employed too few pilots to maintain the original service plan.
The Oregonian newspaper reported SeaPort operated five leased aircraft — two based in Portland, Oregon, and three in Memphis. According to the newspaper, the carrier “sought permission from the court to complete operations Tuesday so each plane would be at its home base when it entered Chapter 7 proceedings.”