Port authority pays $150K to settle airline lawsuit

VIENNA — The Western Reserve Port Authority reached a settlement in a lawsuit between the port authority and an airline that briefly offered flights to Chicago from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

Both parties will dismiss all claims, and the port authority will pay $150,000 to Aerodynamics Inc. of Beachwood.

“We’re meeting them halfway,” said Dan Dickten, the port authority’s aviation director.

Last year, the port authority filed a lawsuit against the airline, which offered daily flights to Chicago for a short time in 2016 before the service ended because of low ticket sales.

The service lasted from July 1 through late August, with the WRPA paying ADI $361,714 as a revenue guarantee to ensure the airline would be profitable during the startup phase.

The port authority sued to recover that $361,714 and argued that ADI breached its contract because it did not have arrangements in place to enable passengers to easily connect with other flights at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

ADI filed a counterclaim demanding $294,221, which it billed the port authority but never received.