A sympathy card taped to the glass doors at Kiwi International Air Lines headquarters summed up the rise and fall of the employee-owned carrier.
"You took a chance and even though it didn't work out exactly as you'd planned, you succeeded in doing your best at stretching yourself to your limits, at giving it your all," the card read.Kiwi said it was grounding itself Tuesday and would shut down next week if it doesn't find an investor to keep it running through bankruptcy reorganization.
For many of the employees who had worked at other airlines that ended in bankruptcy, the suspension of flights was an all too familiar story.
"We came close so many times to bad news and yet we always came through," said one employee, a former Pan Am worker who refused to give her name. "People really cared about each other. They pulled together."
Kiwi had slashed its work force and schedule since entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sept. 30. It twice staved off a shutdown this month as it struggled to arrange a multimillion-dollar infusion of cash.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Rosemary Gambardella had been set to consider Tuesday whether the ailing carrier could continue to put cash that was pledged for debts toward its operations. But at midday, the airline announced it would suspend service.
Gambardella set a hearing for Tuesday at which Kiwi would present a plan to dispose of the company's assets.