FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Broward County commissioners could soon vote to terminate the lease for one of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport's regional carriers because of the airline's failure to pay rent dating to 2021.
An agenda item on next week's Broward County Commission meeting seeks approval on the termination of the lease agreement between the county and Silver Airways at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Silver Airways operates out of Concourse C in Terminal 1.
County commissioners have been provided with a year's worth of default notices citing Silver's failure to fulfill its financial obligations.
The first notice of default from Mark Gale, the county's director of aviation, to Silver Airways controller Alex Alvarez was dated Jan. 3, 2022. It stated that Silver owed the county more than $1 million.
Gale rescinded the notice the next day after speaking with Alvarez, who disputed the amount owed.
It was agreed upon that Silver would pay the county $546,305.46 on or before Jan. 11, 2022, Gale wrote in a temporary rescission of the default notice.
"Additionally, we discussed working cooperatively over the next few weeks to resolve any discrepancies and reach a mutually acceptable repayment plan on the remaining balances due," Gale wrote.
Apparently, that never happened.
A Sept. 1, 2022, notice from senior assistant county attorney Alexander J. Williams to Silver Airways CEO Steve Rossum stated that the airline had failed to pay fees and charges due under its 2015 lease agreement.
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By Aug. 24, 2022, the amount due had ballooned to $790,799, "most of which is seriously delinquent," Williams wrote.
A Dec. 15, 2022, letter from Williams to Rossum indicated that Silver by then owed a total of $957.750.17, after the county applied Silver's security deposit as credit toward the remaining amount due.
In his letter, Williams said he had spoken with Rossum in September and "suggested a sizable payment against the past sums due would go a long way towards restoring Silver Airways' signatory status."
"You advised me then that Silver Airways would submit a proposal in a few days," Williams wrote. "That did not occur until much later."
Williams went on to say that the county finally received a payment proposal in November, calling it "unacceptable" and "nearly identical to one submitted exactly one year ago."
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"If Silver Airways had acted on that 2021 proposal, the severity of today's situation would be materially different," Williams wrote.
Attempts to reach someone from Silver Airways for comment by telephone were unsuccessful, but Rossum told the South Florida SunSentinel that negotiations between the airline and county continue.
"It is our desire and expectation to reach a negotiated resolution expeditiously with the county that is fair to Silver and its employees and fair to the taxpayers of Broward County," Rossum told the newspaper.
Silver operates a fleet of propeller planes that fly to places like Tallahassee and the Bahamas.
