Aerodynamics Urges DOT Approval in Latest Filing
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Aerodynamics Inc. is again calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to certify its fitness to operate and permit expanded service.
The company filed a response Sept. 3 to the regulatory agency’s Aug. 5 request for additional information. ADI’s letter, posted to DOT’s docket. was accompanied by a motion for confidential treatment of financial information submitted to the agency. I
ADI wants to begin offering scheduled daily service between Youngstown/Warren Regional Airport in Vienna Township and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
“The record in support of ADI’s application and fitness review is now complete,” attorneys Robert E. Cohn and Patrick R. Rizzi, legal counsel for ADI, said in the letter.
The company’s letter is addressed to Lauralyn Remo, chief of DOT’s Air Carrier Fitness Division, and analyst Catherine J. O’Toole. It calls on the department to “expeditiously” issue a letter determining that the carrier “remains fit, willing and able” following its change of ownership July 15, and issue the certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing ADI to conduct scheduled interstate air transportation.
ADI’s attorneys said its articles of incorporation and bylaws have not been amended since it was sold in May, when its former owner, Scott Beale, entered into an agreement with ADI Acquisition LLC to purchase the company from him.
ADI Acquisition is owned equally by John and Janet Beardlsey, who also own 80% of the voting interests in SeaPort Airlines through a holding company, Janair LLC.
The filing also included updated resumes for executives Rob McKinney and Michael Prinzi and provided further clarification of McKinney’s role as CEO. The confidential financial information filed included third-party verification of funds available, balance sheet and income statement, and the purchase price.
Additionally, the company “emphatically” rejected allegations in comments posted anonymously on the docket regarding financial fitness and safety. “Since the identities of the submitters were not disclosed, ADI assumes that they likely emanate from disgruntled former employees,” the company said.
And in response to the “erroneous safety allegations … ADI feels confident that the FAA will advise the department that there are no safety concerns,” the company said.
DOT’s January show cause order, which questioned ADI’s fitness, “had a significant impact on the company” and many customers and potential customers booked elsewhere due to concerns about the carrier, the attorneys said. ADI responded to DOT’s concerns by replacing its CEO and president and other managers with new managers who implemented “across-the-board actions to preserve the company.”
Those actions included temporarily returning three aircraft to their lessors and subsequent furloughing of some pilots due to reduced flying.
“ADI’s creditors, including its aircraft lessors, have been very accommodating, and ADI is back on track and business is increasing,” according to the letter. “ADI and the Youngstown community look forward to ADI receiving scheduled authority and implementing its proposed scheduled service.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
