If an airline does not voluntarily file for bankruptcy, it can also lose its air operator’s certificate (AOC) over the state of its finances.
In the U.S., the certificate that grants an airline permission to sell and run flights is given out by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and requires the holder to prove that it has the necessary planes, staff, safety systems and financial resources to run a functional airline over time.
Most recently, charter airline Tailwind Air lost its AOC in January 2025 after struggling to bring in the necessary traffic on its routes between Northeastern cities such as New York and Boston.
Houston-based charter airline Starflite Aviation had it stripped after regulators alleged that…