A new lawsuit concerning defunct OneJet (Pittsburgh International) alleges that the chairman of Pittsburgh International airport, whose operator is now suing the carrier, was once a shareholder in the airline Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 51 creditors to the defunct airline, who are collectively owed USD10.1 million. It forced the airline into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It names the chairman of the Allegheny County Airport Authority David Minnotte and the vice-chairman Robert Lewis among the defendants, claiming that both owned stock in OneJet.
The lawsuit also alleges that by the virtue of their positions with the airport operator, Minnotte and Lewis could have influenced the decision to grant USD1 million in aids to OneJet.
"[They] touted the fact that the airport authority had 'approved' OneJet’s operations, as a marketing tool to solicit investments in OneJet," the lawsuit maintains.
The plaintiffs also allege that the airline and its shareholders, including Minnotte and Lewis, hid information about OneJet's poor financial standing over the course of summer 2018.
Minnotte said through a solicitor that he used to be an investor in OneJet but sold his holding in summer 2018, before the airport authority's board barred its managers from holding shares in OneJet. Lewis sold his stake only when the ban was implemented in September.
It is unclear what stakes Minnotte or Lewis held in the airline.
The airport solicitor further rejected claims that Pittsburgh treated any airlines preferentially.
The airport authority is separately suing OneJet to recover at least USD763,000 of the grant given to the airline for routes which were either never launched or suspended over the last few months.
OneJet suspended operations on August 29, 2018. It then intended to relaunch on October 1 as a Part 135-certified air taxi operator. So far, the carrier has not resumed any flights.
