Major airline ceases operations with immediate effect | World | News

A major airline has announced its sudden and immediate closure after flying people across the world for more than six decades. American airline Kenai Aviation, which mostly operates flights in and out of Alaska, has announced it will cancel flights and immediately cease operations.

Kenai boss, Joel Caldwell, issued a statement where he revealed the airline was “financially insolvent”. Caldwell added: “Where some see passengers, I see connecting Alaskans. I see people I care about. I see a vibrant airline, full flights, growth, and the best crew of mechanics, ground staff, and pilots that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. By all operational metrics, Kenai Aviation is successful. But yet, we are financially insolvent.” The airline has been in business since 1959 and in it’s history has had a few close calls with insolvency.

The owner added: “At the end of 2017, I was sitting at my kitchen table in Kenai when I received the call that Jim Bielefeld [Kenai’s airport commissioner] was just about to finalise shutting down Kenai Aviation. But if I wanted to act quickly, we could step in and keep this historic airline alive.

“It was only a few years later that I watched our first scheduled flight take off.”

But eight years later, the airline wasn’t able to get on top of its debts and had to cease operations.

Caldwell mostly blames the Covid pandemic for the airlines’ mounting debt problem, and despite seeing passenger numbers recover, the debt has now racked up.

He added: “The pandemic response affected all of us, but for most people, it’s just a painful memory.

“For me, and for Kenai Aviation, Covid gave us a debt load that we haven’t been able to get back on top of.

“Carrying that burden increased the effects of every obstacle that we’ve had to navigate.

“When our plane was grounded for maintenance and not being able to serve Unalakleet this summer, it not only hurt a community that I love, but it also hurt us financially.

“The King Air is back up and running, and our flights to Anchorage are full. But today, the bank is calling that debt. We have to cease all operations immediately. I am devastated. Our operations may stop, but this vision continues.”

Despite its operations ceasing, the owner is hunting for investors to save the airline and resume its normal flights.