Says Deliberate Effort Was Made To Close Airline

RegionsAir -- grounded by the FAA in March, over what the agency called discrepancies in the airline's training procedures -- is striking back. This week, the airline sued several government agencies, and Senator Dick Durbin, asking to be reinstated.

The carrier is also asking for $11.65 million in damages stemming from the forced shutdown, according to the Decatur (IL) Herald-Review.

As ANN reported, the FAA first grounded RegionsAir over a dispute regarding wording in the company's training manual. Three days after the airline resumed operations, the FAA shut it down again -- this time, saying a number of line check airmen were not properly trained.

According to the lawsuit, the FAA cajoled the airline into signing an agreement to suspend operations, by threatening to prevent some RegionsAir workers from getting jobs in the aviation field in the future. The lawsuit also maintains the airline's president was given less than an hour to sign the decree, without the ability to consult attorneys.

Even after the airline brought its operations back into compliance, RegionsAir says the FAA deliberately delayed recertifying the airline.

"- the FAA failed to commit one inspector to RegionAir's facility," the complaint says. "- the FAA inspectors failed to return phone calls, or return written correspondence to RegionsAir."

The suit also alleges Senator Durbin tried to shut down the carrier. "Sen. Durbin lobbied American Airlines, the secretary of transportation and regional airports in pursuit of his goal of closing plaintiff's business," the complaint states.

Joe Shoemaker, Durbin's press secretary, referred questions on the matter to the Office of Senate Legal Counsel -- where no one was available Monday to comment on the complaint, according to the paper. An FAA spokesman declined to comment on the matter.

The de facto shutdown of RegionsAir has left Decatur, and several other small cities with no air service to St. Louis. Many of the airline's employees remain out of work; others are still on the job, but working for less pay and benefits.

"A lot of employees feel shortchanged," said Nathan Vallier, director of sales and marketing for RegionsAir at the time of the grounding. "We feel that somebody pushed us out the door. We just want our jobs back."

Well, that... and, to see the FAA and others exposed in what many believe was a conspiracy to shut down the airline.

"It will be interesting to see in the courts, to see the testimony and the paper trail," Vallier said. "We feel it was motivated. Somebody was motivated to get rid of us. Somebody does not like the company. I want to know what happened. If the FAA was pressured, who pressured the FAA and why? What was their motive?"

FMI: www.regionsair.com, www.faa.gov, http://durbin.senate.gov/