The Airport Commission of Forsyth County has filed a lawsuit against Pace Airlines Inc. for just more than $1 million in overdue lease payments.
However, it remains unclear who is responsible for responding to the lawsuit that was filed on Oct. 20 in Forsyth County Superior Court.
The lawsuit requests payment of $1,042,318, plus about $10,400 in monthly interest. The lawsuit was filed by Frank Newton Jr., a Charlotte attorney representing the commission. Newton could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The filing caught some members of the commission, including its chairman, Tom McKim, by surprise.
The lease payments owed date to October 2008 and represent two known ownership groups -- the estate of Bob Brooks, the former owner of Hooters Air, and William Rodgers, who acquired the company on May 28.
With Pace and Rodgers experiencing financial and legal troubles that led to the ending of its last major maintenance contract in August and the cutting of 300 local jobs by mid-September, the commission evicted the company from the Smith Reynolds Airport campus in early October.
McKim said at that time that the commission felt it needed to begin preparations to pursue a new tenant. "It's too important of a facility for the airport to remain in limbo," McKim said.
Determining the responsible defendant to the lawsuit has been challenging.
Rodgers acquired Pace from the Brooks estate in May, based on a promissory note to pay $9 million for stock in Pace Airlines LLC and Pace Airlines II LLC, and take over $6 million in liabilities.
Rodgers told employees he was wealthy, an aviation expert and had access to tens of millions of dollars in investor capital. But the company collapsed within four months of him taking over.
Newton served notice of the lawsuit with Darrell Richardson, the former president of Pace who was listed as the company's registered agent.
However, Rodgers replaced Richardson as the registered agent on Oct. 16. That change was not approved by the N.C. Secretary of State's office until Oct. 22.
On Oct. 27, Dudley Witt, an attorney representing the corporation, said that Rodgers was no longer the owner of Pace as of Oct. 25. Witt has not identified the new owner. There has been no filing regarding an ownership and registered agent change with the secretary of state offices in North Carolina and Delaware, where Pace is incorporated.
Rodgers, 59, of Liberty, Mo., was charged Sept. 22 with one count of willful failure to pay group health-insurance premiums -- a Class H felony -- by the criminal-investigations division of the N.C. Department of Insurance.
Rodgers could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine, according to N.C. General Statutes. Other charges are pending, insurance officials said. He is scheduled for a probable-cause hearing in Forsyth District Court on Dec. 11.
The N.C. and U.S. Labor Departments continue to investigate nonpayment of employees that occurred for six weeks beginning in August and ending when Rodgers suspended operations Sept. 17.
Witt said he believes that Rodgers remains responsible for the promissory note and the liabilities, rather than the corporation. Walter Holton, an attorney representing Rodgers, said he is determining whether that assessment is correct.
rcraver@wsjournal.com
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