A number of regional airlines have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2025.
Charter airline Kachina Air filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 24.
Fuel and aviation costs have been blamed.
This has not been the best year to be in the airline industry. In September, two Scandinavian airlines — Play and Braathens Aviation — had to shut down operations within a few days of each other over similar problems of mounting debt and inability to bring in the traffic necessary to make a dent in it.
Ravn Alaska, Air Belgium, and SKS Airways in Malaysia are some of the other airline names that filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2025 while Florida-based charter carrier Verijet followed its European competitors with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing at the Southern District of Florida bankruptcy court earlier this month.
While a granted Chapter 11 buys the filers to find new funding sources or otherwise restructure, Chapter 7 takes the company straight into liquidation.
Amid a period of very rapid growth and expansion to international destinations in the Caribbean, Verijet racked up over $38.7 million in debts to customers and businesses leasing its jets while also facing multiple lawsuits over flights it accepted money for but did not run.
Less than two weeks after its Florida competitor, Texas-based operator Kachina Air became the latest charter airline to file for bankruptcy with a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas Southern Bankruptcy Court.
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The company is also registered under the name Gai Air LLC and has a small fleet of two PA-31-350 Chieftain planes with seven seats; this type of aircraft is frequently used as feeder planes for cargo and regional flights between nearby cities. They also have a range of no more than 900 nautical miles.
The bankruptcy petition was filed on Oct. 24 while judge Christopher M. Lopez has been assigned to oversee the case. The company is registered as established in 2020 in Conroe, Texas while the bankruptcy hearing is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
iling date: October 24, 2025: filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy.
Chapter: Chapter 11 (reorganization).
Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Case number: 25-90527.
Nature of business: Aviation / charter / other aviation services.
Status (public): Case recently filed; reorganization process is ongoing as of filing.Source: Pacermonitor
