Independence Air and parent company FLYi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, ending a year-and-a-half-long wait for what many considered an inevitable financial collapse. A big money loser since it broke ties with former code-share partner United Airlines, the former Atlantic Coast Airlines said it would seek approval to sell itself in a court auction.

To make the assets more attractive to investors, Independence Air CEO Kerry Skeen has asked for wage concessions from all the main employee groups and has imposed further salary cuts on management. Since it started flying as an independent entity in June last year it has removed from service all but 30 of its original 87 Bombardier CRJs, including 28 last month.