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ADI still interested in Chicago, Youngstown service
By Kalea Hall
VIENNA
Aerodynamics Inc. still wants to provide flight service between Chicago O’Hare International and Youngstown-Warren Regional airports, a company spokesman said.
But right now, the company is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation to handle concerns the department has with the business.
“We remain committed to serving Youngstown as quickly as we possibly can,” said Mickey Bowman, vice president of airline services for the Beachwood, Ohio, and Atlanta-based ADI. “We just see it as a real opportunity.”
On Friday, the DOT responded to ADI’s Feb. 5 response to the DOT’s tentative denial of the application for service between Chicago and Youngstown. In Friday’s letter sent to ADI’s counsel, the DOT said it is “highly encouraged” by ADI’s action to alleviate the department’s concerns, which the department laid out in an order to show cause issued Jan. 22.
The federal transportation department’s main concern was the influence of Scott Beale, the former CEO, majority shareholder and chairman of the ADI board and its parent companies — ADI Holdings Co. and Aviation Capital Partners LLC.
Beale was a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Flight Test Aviation Inc. Through media reports, DOT officials discovered a fraud a federal judge said Beale committed while soliciting investment funds from a former business partner in 2012.
Beale has since resigned, and said he would sell 100 percent of the interest he has in the companies. ADI appointed a new president and CEO and board members.
On Friday, the DOT said it would give the company 30 days for the former CEO to place his shares in a voting trust and 120 days to complete the sale of the company, which are the time frames requested by ADI.
ADI is working to provide answers to questions DOT raised in its recent letter.
Those questions include a description of the relationships between Beale and any board members; a description of the process to select the new CEO, F. Darrell Richardson; and to provide agreements, written or oral, between Beale and ADI or entities with which it is affiliated.