VIENNA FAA sanctions in airline chief's past

The boss says his company is the local airport's best hope.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- The founder of an airline seeking to fly out of Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport had been grounded by the FAA in the past, and the airline he ran then was shut down for using an unqualified pilot and unauthorized aircraft.
Lee Allen, CEO of Golden Airways, said he won't have anything to do with day-to-day operations if the Colorado company is successful in its bid to create what he calls a "mini-hub" here, with regular flights to 10 destinations.
"We have people who will be operating the airline who have been operating airlines for 20 years," he said. "The FAA calls them 'the five wise men.'"
He won't name them, or any investors. Doing so, he says, would breach confidentiality agreements.
"No private company will tell you that," said Allen, of Greenwood Village, Colo.
Now-defunct venture
Before founding Golden Airways, Allen was general manager and vice president of Excalibur Aviation, a small company licensed by the FAA to provide charter flights. That company operated primarily in North Dakota, Allen said.
In 1996, after a five-day hearing before an administrative judge, the FAA revoked the company's right to fly for violating a number of conditions of its operating permit.
Revoking a company's permit is an action the FAA takes perhaps only once or twice a year, said Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region.
"That is as serious as it gets," he said.
The FAA accused Excalibur of flying under instrument flight rules, although it was only allowed to fly under visual flight rules; of using pilots on those flights who did not have the requisite competency checks or total hours of flight time; and using pilots and aircraft not listed in its operating specifications.
The charges are detailed by the National Transportation Safety Board in a decision to reject Excalibur's appeal.
The dispute was not continued through the court system, an NTSB spokesman said.
License suspension
The FAA also suspended Allen's personal license to fly planes for 180 days because of "virtually identical" infractions, NTSB documents say.
Allen was the sole pilot authorized to fly Excalibur flights, but the judge determined he was also responsible for flights for which he was not the pilot in command because of his position with Excalibur and involvement with management, NTSB documents say.
Allen said the rulings are "ancient history," with no bearing on his company's plans to establish air service here.
He refused to talk about the rulings with The Vindicator beyond saying they were a minor matter which was settled out of court. He said the FAA still owes him money as a result.
In 1996, the judge ordered the FAA to pay 15 percent of Allen's legal fees for having to defend himself on two charges that were not substantiated. He was charged on 13 counts, records show.
Bringing that information forward now could cause Golden Airways to look for other places to launch its service, Allen said, repeating his contention that the mini-hub would bring in $1.3 million a year to the money-losing airport and dump $48 million a year into the local economy.
The company has not asked for any local government money to develop plans or subsidize four business trips to the airport, which Allen said has cost the company $150,000.
"It is kind of unusual for this area that people are conducting business the way it is supposed to be conducted," said Don Manning, Republican candidate for Trumbull County commissioner.
Time frame
Allen said the company hopes to close a deal with the Western Reserve Port Authority, which runs the airport, within 30 days and to begin flying five planes out of the airport 30 days after that.
"We have listened to a very interesting proposal regarding a new air service," said Tom Nolan, the airport's director of aviation. "The port authority is evaluating a potential partnership, and that is where it stands."
The company has proposed renting the entire airport terminal and hopes to have 15 aircraft flying within a year.
Allen said the airport has few other options.
"If there is somebody else out there, a group of investors or somebody of that nature, who is willing to do it, willing to put dollars out, that is ..." Allen said with a shrug. "So far, they have been declined by everybody."
siff@vindy.com