Silver Airways and Seaborne Airlines have announced that Silver’s acquisition of Seaborne’s business and assets has successfully closed, creating an independent airline to serve the Caribbean, Florida and beyond.
The merger of the two airlines’ operating functions, joint branding and streamlining of the guest experience is expected to occur next year. Steve Rossum of Silver Airways will serve as CEO of the combined airline. Current Seaborne CEO Ben Munson will resume his role as president of the aviation consulting firm, Embark Aviation, and will continue as an advisor to the company.
The combined airline will employ nearly 1,000 aviation professionals and will be headquartered at Silver Airways’ offices in Fort Lauderdale under the leadership of executives from both Silver and Seaborne. Corporate and operations support functions will continue at locations in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, San Juan and St. Croix.
The acquisition brings together two independent airlines with similar Saab 340B fleets, complementary route networks and common codeshare/interline partners. With the upcoming deployment of Silver’s recently announced new fleet of ATR-600s across both networks, the combined airline will have an expanded range.
The combined airline will continue operating Silver’s route network in the Bahamas, Florida, and beyond under the Silver Airways banner and Seaborne’s route network throughout Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other Caribbean islands under the Seaborne name.
The total fleet now consists of 31 aircraft, including Saab 340 and de Havilland Twin Otter seaplane aircraft. Silver is also the North American launch customer for the eco-friendly ATR-600 aircraft in the U.S. Silver took delivery of the first 46-seat ATR-42 earlier this month and has a firm order for 19 additional ATR-600s and up to 30 additional purchase rights.
Tickets for Silver Airways will continue to be available on www.silverairways.com and bookings for Seaborne will continue on www.seaborneairlines.com. Seaborne passengers will be able to earn and redeem frequent traveler miles under Seaborne’s "SeaMiles" program. Initially, Seaborne will continue to operate under its own certificate as a standalone operating subsidiary of Silver.
Visit www.silverairways.com
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