Surf Air sued for failure to pay operator

“We’ll restructure and recover and get through this,” he said. “But it’s a pretty heavy blow when your one and only customer walks away.”

The sudden shift in Surf Air’s operator from Encompass Aviation, which signed on with the airline in May of 2017, to another Southern California-based company, Advanced Air, which announced the new partnership in a press release June 16, marks the latest in a string of agreement violations Surf Air committed in the yearlong contract between the two, according to the suit. Surf Air did not respond to requests for comment on the suit or a tax lien filed by county officials against Surf Air in 2017 to the tune of $131,372.51.

Failing to pay for flights two weeks in advance, defaulting on its payments and breaking a February written promise from Surf Air’s Executive Chairman Sudhin Shahani that the airline would catch up on overdue payments and turn over to the former operator 25 percent of new capital raised on account of overdue payments are among other ways the airline violated agreements with Encompass Aviation, according to the suit.

The change in Surf Air’s operator has also marked a shift in its operations at the county-owned San Carlos Airport, where a reduced number of Surf Air flights has been recorded, confirmed airport manager Gretchen Kelly.

Surf Air is a commuter airline that offers unlimited flight service for a fixed monthly fee. Though it has operated flights in and out of the San Carlos Airport since 2013, the airline has drawn the ire of some residents in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties who have voiced concerns about the airline’s role in noise emanating from the general aviation airport where pilots of small aircraft have historically trained.

Under Encompass Aviation’s operations of Surf Air flights, the airline averaged 9.1 daily arrivals and 10.2 daily arrivals at the San Carlos Airport in the first and second quarters of 2018, respectively. Those numbers dropped to a daily average of 1.7 arrivals the week of June 18 and 2.9 arrivals the week of June 25 after the airline’s operations shifted to Advanced Air, according to Kelly and airport communications specialist Davi Howard.

Measures to stem the effects of Surf Air flights have ramped up in recent years and include the creation of a cross-jurisdictional working group, including the Federal Aviation Administration, elected officials, San Carlos Airport staff and Surf Air representatives. The group designed and executed a six-month trial in the second half of 2016 of a flight route directing Surf Air flights in and out of the San Carlos Airport over the Bay instead of over Peninsula neighborhoods, one of several strategies aimed at mitigating the airplane noise for residents.

Though the route, dubbed the Bayside Visual Approach, was deemed feasible, the FAA is conducting an environmental review of the trial. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor confirmed the environmental review for Surf Air’s proposed Bayside Visual Approach has yet to be finished and a completion date for the study has yet to be set.

After the 2016 trial of the Bayside Visual Approach, some Surf Air pilots had received approval from the FAA to use the route on days with good weather, but Kelly said in operating Surf Air flights, Advanced Air does not yet have permission to fly the test path.

To explore noise mitigation strategies, county officials have also hired a consultant to explore other alternate routes pilots can take into the airport that don’t affect neighborhoods, installed an updated monitoring system providing real-time data on the path pilots are using and ramped up communication with pilots regarding noise abatement procedures.

Though Harfst declined to comment on what’s ahead for the next operator of Surf Air flights at the San Carlos Airport, he acknowledged the intricacies of working in the crowded airspace near the San Francisco International Airport and said his company was committed to working with the jurisdictions and agencies involved in the airport’s noise mitigation efforts.

“As an operator, we really worked hard to be a good steward of our operation with San Mateo County and the airport,” he said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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