Along with the sudden shutdowns of commercial airlines like Play and Blue Islands, a number of charter and fractional carriers also filed for bankruptcy in 2025.
Florida-based Verijet and Montana charter carrier Corporate Air both initiated bankruptcy proceedings at the same time in October while Alaska-based Kenai Aviation followed just a few weeks later with a total shutdown of operations in November.
The charter airline connected hubs like Anchorage and Fairbanks with smaller communities in Kenai, Homer and Seward.
“We need capital, we need partners, we need a lifeline,” owner Joel Caldwell wrote in November. “That investor is out there, we just need to find them.”
Three years after canceling all flights, Jet It files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
The latest airline to submit a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is Greensboro-based Jet it. While the carrier once running charter and fractional flights has not operated since shutting down all operations in 2023, the Dec. 24 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware is a final step in a story that ultimately ends in liquidation.
Contrary to a Chapter 11 filing with intent to restructure, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy asks a judge to skip over that step and go straight to liquidation. The filing shows that the airline that launched in 2022 by selling fractional ownership to HondaJet flights ran up more than $36.2 million in liabilities of which $9.7 million were unsecured claims.
Related: Airline shuts down after losing license, last flights canceled
A fractional airline operates by selling shares to a private jet that are doled out by giving customers a set number of hours that they can use to request flights run by the crew provided by the airline.
At the time that it launched, Jet It advertised rates of $1,600 an hour while operating over over 18,000 flight hours a year. While the airline was once the 12th-largest private jet operator in the U.S., Jet It also ran up significant debts given the high cost of jet fuel and customer base that petered out over time.
Jet It was a fractional airline selling flight hours in a private jet.
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Liquidation is final step in long tale of Jet It’s meteoric rise and then debt
The largest creditor remains World Fuel Services to which Jet It owes $735,695, according to the filing. American Express is owed over $600,000 while smaller creditors include PIC Card Services LLC and Jetex Flight Services. Berkshire Hathaway unit FlightSafety claims it was never paid $400,981 for pilot training services enlisted by the airline.
These airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2025:
- Spirit Airlines (Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc.): Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time on August 29,2025.
- Ravn Alaska: Ceased operations in August 2025 after earlier Chapter 11 proceedings; shut down flights and folded into other operations such as New Pacific.
- Corporate Air: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (restructuring) in September 2025 as part of a planned sale, according to Bondoro.
- Play Airlines: The Reykjavik-based airline shut down operations and entered involuntary bankruptcy in September 2025.
- Braathens Airlines:Forced to file for bankruptcy and canceled all flights in September 2025.
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At the time Jet It canceled all flights, it also blamed HondaJet after an airplane ran off the end of a runway in South Carolina and prolonged grounding and safety audits that further cut into the lack of time when the carrier was bringing in profits.
“The problem was that Jet It also grounded its other aircraft in the fleet, not just the HondaJets, leaving many owners questioning whether this was a ‘negotiating tactic’ to allow the company to exercise the force majeure clauses in fractional contracts, enabling the company to cancel the programs and agreements altogether,” Flying journalist Craig Fuller wrote in May 2023.
Related: Classic hotel may skip Chapter 11 bankruptcy, go to liquidation
