Evergreen International Airlines (McMinnville, Oregon and Marana, Arizona) despite denials of rumors by senior management, in the waning hours of December 31, 2013, filed for voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in a federal court in the state of Delaware. The company will be liquidated.

According to this report by Bloomberg, some of Evergreen’s creditors filed papers on December 17 in a Brooklyn, New York court to force the airline to pay its bills. This filing forced the bankruptcy filing.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

The airline was established by Delford M. Smith and commenced operations in 1960 as Evergreen Helicopters. It acquired the operating certificate of Johnson Flying Service (later Johnson Air) (Missoula) and merged it with Intermountain Aviation to establish the current Evergreen International Airlines on November 28, 1978.

Previously the airline issued this statement on November 8, 2013:

McMinnville, Oregon — November 8, 2013

As has been previously reported in the press, Evergreen’s business has been adversely impacted over the past several years by decreased demand in military spending and weakness in global economic markets. Management has moved to aggressively address these challenges, including through the divestiture of businesses and assets and the significant reduction of secured debt. Evergreen is in discussions with its significant constituencies and is exploring available strategic alternatives with those constituencies. While Evergreen generally does not comment on market rumor or conjecture, rumors that a decision has been made to cease operations at this time are false. Evergreen remains committed to continuing to address the current business environment with its customers.

Delford M. Smith
Chief Executive Officer,
Evergreen International Aviation, Inc.

Top Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. Evergreen International was the famous operator of the Boeing 747 “Supertanker”. Formerly operated by Delta Air Lines, Boeing 747-132 (SF) N479EV (msn 19898) taxies at Hahn, Germany as the “979 Supertanker”.

Evergreen International Airlines: 

Johnson Air: 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Before it was Evergreen International, the company was Johnson Air (Johnson Flying Service). Ex-Western Airlines Lockheed 188A Electra N7137C (msn 1074) rests at the earlier “Big Sky” Missoula, Montana base.