US regional carrier SeaPort Airlines has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 reorganisation in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon. The announcement comes after the airline took a number of necessary steps earlier this year to reduce its route network as a result of a national pilot shortage.
SeaPort said that after much consideration, its Board of Directors determined that reorganisation was the best path forward for the carrier, allowing the company to achieve long-term viability while maintaining its ability to provide air service to customers and communities. It will continue to provide service without interruption to its reduced network, while also maintaining its interline agreements with Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.
“The difficult decision to file for bankruptcy protection was necessary to preserve the future of our airline. I am confident we will come out the other side of reorganization with a financially stronger airline in a better position to handle the challenges of the industry and provide the quality service our customers, employees and partners deserve,” said Tim Sieber, the newly appointed President of SeaPort Airlines.
Formerly the carrier’s Executive Vice President, Sieber replaced President and Chief Executive Officer, Rob McKinney at the helm of the business after the latter resigned as part of the restructuring filing. Sieber joined SeaPort in July 2011 from Boyd Group International and has over 25 years of experience in the airline industry from positions at Northern Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Mohawk Airlines and Mall Airways.
Under court supervision, SeaPort will propose a Plan of Reorganisation that will allow the company to emerge a strong and viable airline positioned to meet the challenges not only of the pilot shortage, but of the highly competitive airline industry.
“Our customers are first and foremost our top priority as we work towards our goals of building a better, more sustainable airline. We’re moving forward, one flight at a time, by focusing on delivering on our core promise to each customer of getting them to their destination safely and on-time.” added Sieber.
The airline has been hit hard by crewing shortages, a problem that first started to affect SeaPort operations last year in the Mid-South. The shortage eventually led to additional hardships that impacted the entire operation. SeaPort had grown its network rapidly prior to experiencing these difficulties, and operational reliability and the business as a whole suffered as the problem persisted.
“We were initially convinced the problem was isolated, and with a new recruitment and retention plan, we could turn it around; but it started to spread like an epidemic, and the fallout was greater than we imagined,” said Sieber.
This resulted in the carrier abruptly discontinuing all its scheduled service to destinations in California and Mexico on January 15, 2016 with flights to destinations in Kansas and Missouri closing the following day. A company statement said it was “forced to take this action” due to a shortage of airline pilots with one report suggesting it had just 17 pilots available to crew a 54 pilot system.
Last month SeaPort also announced that it would postpone air service to Moses Lake (Grant County International Airport), Port Angeles (William R Fairchild International Airport) and Seattle (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport), while earlier this month it revealed it was ceasing scheduled operations between Portland and North Bend/Coos Bay in Oregon beginning March 21, 2016.
With these recent changes, the company believes it is positioning itself to provide its remaining communities with reliable and customer-centric service. This will provide a foundation from which it may be able to relaunch flights to many of its suspended markets in the future.
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