“Like many companies in our industry, Arrow Air has experienced significant operating losses as a result of increasing operating costs and declining revenues,” the company said in a statement. “The decision to wind down the company’s schedule service operations was a difficult one. This decision was not made lightly, and was a last resort after the company exhaustively searched for other options including financing or a sale of the business.”
The airline laid off several hundred employees.
Arrow operated a fleet of DC-10s and Boeing 757 narrow-body aircraft serving the United States, the Caribbean, and South and Central America.
It reported $72 million worth of debt to the bankruptcy court, according to local media reports. The airline blamed high fuel costs last year for creating an operating deficit from which it never recovered, the Wall Street Journal reported based on court documents.
Arrow said it will maintain its operating authority and could be available for charter flights in the event a purchaser can be found in bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg News.
