Charter airline ceases operations, lays off staff
Charter airline World Airways, which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, announced it has ceased flying and is winding down all operations.
The company’s first step was to lay off 325 employees, including 109 pilots and 146 flight attendants.
Earlier this week World Airways’ first lien holder said the carrier had defaulted on its loan and stopped further airline funding.
Parent company Global Aviation Holdings and its subsidiaries, including World Airways, had been actively seeking funds for several months to restructure the businesses in chapter 11 bankruptcy but has been unable to secure the financing.
World Airways was established in 1948 and flew B747-400 and MD-11 aircraft on passenger charter and cargo flights.
A large proportion of business came from the US Military.
Eric Bergesen, World Airways’ COO, said: "The battle to save World Airways has been difficult and a lot of people have worked hard to try to save our airline."
However sister company North American Airlines will continue flying for the time being, and hopes to come out of bankruptcy in the near future.
North American has a fleet of five B767-300ER aircraft operating domestic and international passenger charter flights.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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