Advantage Rent A Car has filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Minnesota, and is now looking to sell the business or merge with another company.
In the meantime, Advantage has closed two-thirds of its airport locations. The following airport locations remain open only for the return of vehicles: Albuquerque, N.M.; Aspen, Colo.; Burbank, Calif.; Chicago O’Hare; Dallas/Fort Worth; Grand Junction, Colo.; Hayden, Colo.; Honolulu; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Maui; Palm Springs, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Rifle, Colo.; San Antonio; San Diego, Seattle; and Tucson, Ariz.
The rental outlets remaining open are Advantage’s most profitable, highest volume locations, said the company. The airport locations still in business are Austin, Texas; Chicago Midway; Colorado Springs; Denver; El Paso, Texas; Houston Bush Intercontinental; Orlando; Phoenix and Salt Lake City.
“We have been hit with a simultaneous drop in leisure travel, with greatly increased costs and frozen credit markets,” said Advantage spokesman Jon Austin. “These factors are affecting many industries and companies, and we are not immune from these forces. These painful steps are a recognition of that reality.”
In addition to its primary bankruptcy petition, Advantage said it filed “a number of motions to assure the continuity and stability of its business, including the payment of wages and benefits without interruption to current employees.”