RegionsAir, grounded earlier this year over pilot certification, is now advertising for pilots and other staffers on its single-page web site. The message comes from its new, unnamed owners who are intent on resuming operations with former employees. The airline is now accepting resumes from pilots to staff flight operations in the US, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. They are offering signing bonuses of $2,500 to $5,000 for qualified and current Jetstream 31/32/41 and Saab 340 applicants.
RegionsAir halted operations in March after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) questioned the carrier’s line-check airman certification and training program. Related Story It was an AmericanConnection and Continental Connection carrier serving seven Midwestern states to St. Louis and Cleveland before its shut down. Its essential air service routes have since been awarded to Great Lakes (GLUX) and Big Sky under similar agreements with American (AMR) and Continental (CAL).
The resumption of operations depends on the outcome of the carrier’s suit against the U.S. government for breach of contract, according to RegionsAir Attorney Michael Moulis, who told Regional Aviation News, that any new recruits would be used since they still have the Jetstreams and the Saabs. He indicated the new owners had at least 30 years aviation experience each and already had another certificate which they could use if the lawsuit dragged on. It is, as yet, unclear whether Doug Caldwell is included in the new management. Moulis also said he could not disclose the holding company involved pending a public offering that is in the works. He would be on the board.
The company is awaiting a response from the Department of Justice, but Moulis said it already asked for injunctive and declaratory relief. The Smyrna, Tenn.-based airline is suing the government for $11.6 million plus interest charging breach of contract and unlawful taking of property without compensation under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He indicated that Caldwell may be named as a plaintiff along with passengers who were stranded.
Named in the suit is U.S. Senator Dick Durban (D-IL), who criticized the airline’s performance in several Illinois points, and the FAA, which closed the airline, despite an agreement to let it continue operations, over line-check airman certification and training programs. While referenced in the suit, they are not defendants.
Moulis charged the FAA never intended to honor the consent degree signed with RegionsAir shortly before the shut down. “The only time a consent decree is used is fraud, bad faith or they are so bad that they’ll never come into compliance while they are operating,” he said. “It is a tool that is very rarely used and to use it on training issues is very suspicious, especially on the heels of Senator Dick Durban (D-IL) saying he was going to shut them down.”
The FAA asked the airline to prove its pilots were qualified and had proper training and there were sufficient check airmen on board. They did that in two days, said Moulis. The lawsuit claims that, despite the contract, the FAA ignored its response and shut them down. Moulis said the issues came down to a disagreement within the FAA on whether a pilot coming from another airline having had the 40 hours of indoctrination training could use it at the new airline. “Some in the FAA said yes, some said no,” said Moulis, who indicated RegionsAir had been given a waiver to that requirement.” The FAA reversed its waiver when it shut them down.
"He (Durbin) was somewhere actively lobbying to close the air carrier and the FAA shows up a week later,” Moulis told the Jackson Sun, adding it raises questions of abuse of power. “They don't arbitrarily show up. This contract was entered into with no intent to comply by the FAA. The manner in which this contract was executed and the consequent unyielding refusal to comply with the terms was fraudulent."