Grounded California Pacific Airlines facing whistleblower lawsuit
Troubled airline startup California Pacific Airlines is facing further woes with a lawsuit brought by a disgruntled mechanic.
Licensed FAA mechanic Tim Williams claims managers ignored his warning over an aircraft he said was unsafe to fly.
It allowed the jet to keep flying and Williams was fired two days later.
The lawsuit alleges the Carlsbad based airline violated state labor and whistleblower protection laws.
After bringing up the safety issue, the mechanic was told ‘not to worry about it’ as it had just been serviced, the lawsuit claims.
He was ‘under immense pressure to remain quiet,’ the lawsuit said.
Lawyers for Williams described CPA’s planes as ‘an aging fleet.’
After Williams notified the airline that the jet was not safe to fly and is a serious flight risk’ on November 25, the plane continued to fly until December.
The airline grounded all services in December citing a pilot shortage, although it had been forced to cancel services due to maintenance issues.
All operations are still grounded with analysts doubtful the airline will ever take flight again, despite the airline’s pledge to resume services in February.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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