Airline hoping to start local flights gets new CEO

January 28, 2015 at 12:08a.m.

VIENNA

Aerodynamics Inc., the airline that has proposed starting daily flights between the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, has named a new CEO, president and chairman of the board.

F. Darrell Richardson, who has 45 years of experience in the airline industry, will take over the company, which primarily operates in the airline shuttle business, according to an ADI news release.

He takes over for Scott Beale, former CEO, who the U.S. Department of Transportation said owns 80 percent of ADI.

The change in leadership comes after the announcement by the DOT last week that the airline was not “fit” to begin daily flights from Youngstown or to continue its existing shuttle services because it doesn’t have the “managerial competency” nor the “proper compliance disposition and regard for the laws and regulations governing its services.”

The ruling was deemed “tentative” until after a 14-day appeal period.

The DOT said one of its biggest concerns was the outcome of a civil suit against Beale and ADI that resulted in a finding by a federal judge last year that Beale committed fraud while soliciting funds from a former business partner. A jury ordered Beale and ADI to repay the former business partner his $500,000 investment and $100,000 in punitive damages.

ADI, which has operational headquarters in Atlanta but also used headquarters in Beachwood, Ohio, near Beale’s home, had proposed offering 10 flights per week between Youngstown and Chicago on 50-passenger aircraft.

To get the service started, the port authority has offered ADI a revenue guarantee of $1.2 million, consisting of a $780,000 DOT grant and $420,000 from the port authority.

“I am excited to take the leadership role at ADI,” Richardson said in the news release. His aviation career began in 1968, and he has served in senior executive roles at numerous airlines, including Continental Express, Esaba Airlines, Piedmont Airlines and, most recently, Silver Airways, where he led the airline to be named Regional Airline of the Year in 2013, according to the release.

Dan Dickten, director of aviation at Youngstown, said ADI has told him ADI is formulating a response to the DOT’s “fitness” determination and will submit the response by the deadline.

Dickten said he thinks ADI may be viewed more favorably with new leadership in place, saying the airline itself is “fit.”