Fly Alliance, former owner battle in messy transition

The relationship between Fly Alliance and its former owner, Kevin Wargo, turned messy after an email earlier today.

Back in July, Fly Alliance CEO Christopher Tasca led a management buyout of the company from then-majority owner Wargo.

The company included a charter operator, a maintenance business, a spare parts division, and a charter and jet card brokerage.

Tasca addressed the kerfuffle in a statement to Private Jet Card Comparisons.

He wrote, “Rather than supporting an organized transition and protecting the interests of customers, they appear to be using this opportunity to solicit Fly Alliance clients for their own benefit.”

Tasca added, “Let me be absolutely clear: Fly Alliance has not shut its doors of operation,” adding, “Our brand, retail charter business, and membership programs remain operational and in good standing.”

In August, Fly Alliance sold the parts division to Wargo.

At the same time, Wargo launched a competing charter operator and brokerage under the Sky Travel Solutions banner.

Last week, Tasca and Wargo confirmed the sale of Fly Alliance’s charter and maintenance certificates.

Wargo said his company, Cove Capital, would rebrand the previous Fly Alliance Part 135 certificate as Atelier Aviation.

Both Wargo and Tasca said the fleet would be split, with Tasca saying he was negotiating a new operator partner.

Per Tasca, Fly Alliance continues as a charter and jet card brokerage.

Tasca said it currently has around 350 members in its jet card program.

Misleading email?

However, this morning a representative of Atelier Aviation emailed, “Due to the changes happening at Fly Alliance, the Part 135 charter operation has shut its doors.”

The email continued, “Because of this, the Fly Alliance fleet is no longer able to accommodate your trip.”

Tasca had previously said Wargo was expected to fulfill ongoing flights during the transition.

However, the email read, “We apologize for this inconvenience and want to encourage you to reach out to Atelier Aviation, the company acquiring the charter certificate, to advise on their fleet availability and pricing.”

It concluded, “We hope that, moving forward, you’ll consider Atelier Aviation for your next trip.”

Wargo was unavailable to comment.

In comments to Private Jet Card Comparisons, Tasca wrote:

‘For our valued customers and the broader charter broker community, any flights impacted by the transition of our former operating fleet are being addressed through our new operating partnership, which we expect to formally announce this week.’

Tasca said, “Our focus remains exactly where it should be: protecting our customers, honoring our commitments, and continuing to build Fly Alliance for the long term.”

Wargo and Tasca co-founded Fly Alliance in 2019 after exiting Dumont Aviation.

Last year, it was the 14^th-largest U.S. private jet operator based on charter and fractional hours.

The Federal Aviation Administration currently lists 18 aircraft as available for charter.