STEVEN ROSSUM

CEO, SILVER AIRWAYS AND SEABORNE AIRLINES, FORT LAUDERDALE

Born out of the 2010 bankruptcy of Gulfstream International Airlines, Silver now operates about 100 scheduled flights from airports in Florida and the Bahamas. The carrier is owned by a private equity firm in Philadelphia, Versa Capital Management. In 2018, Silver acquired Seaborne Airlines, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based carrier serving destinations throughout Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other countries in the Caribbean. Rossum, who took over as CEO in 2017, came to Silver from an Atlanta law firm, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, where he had been CEO of SGR Aviation Consulting, the firm’s aviation consulting group, and a partner in the firm’s aviation-related practices. While at the firm, he had worked as Silver’s external general counsel, helping the firm purchase 50 new turbo-prop airplanes. Rossum, also has been counsel or in senior executive roles with other airlines, including Pinnacle, National Air Cargo and ASTAR Air Cargo. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Silver appealed for state and federal aid “in order for the airline to survive the most dire crisis the industry has ever faced.”