Island Express Helicopters, the company that operated the helicopter that crashed in January killing NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others, including the pilot, just received $603,838 in CARES Act funding.
According to published reports, the operator had at least three accidents prior to the one transporting to former star of the Los Angeles Lakers.
CALABASAS, CA – JANUARY 26: The site of a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of former NBA … [+]
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The company received the money on May 1, however, news of the grant wasn’t made public until the Treasury Department updated its list of recipients on its website at some point over the weekend.
Two other companies with recent troubles also received money.
JSX, which operates scheduled, semi-private flights in the Western U.S., received $8.9 million. The company counts both JetBlue, which received $935 million in aide, and Qatar Airways as investors. It uses reconfigured regional jets that arrive and depart from private terminals often cutting travel time by half on short hops.
Last month, JetSuite, an affiliated company that sold on-demand charters and jet cards, suspended operations and then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It had furloughed nearly all of its 100-person staff.
Members in its SuiteKey membership program had $50 million in unused flight credits at the time of its grounding.
JetSuite is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSI, LLC. In turn, JSI is wholly owned by JetSuiteX, Inc. JetSuiteX, Inc. owns Delux Public Charter LLC, which received the money, operates as JSX.
Also revealed in the latest update was $158,775 for North Carolina-based Jem Air Holdings, LLC.
The money came just weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration had accused the company of operating a series of illegal charters, which the operator is disputing. In that action, the FAA is seeking $220,000 in civil penalties.
In a written statement, Jem said, “All of the flights referenced in the civil penalty letter were conducted in an aircraft that was authorized by the FAA to be operated with an autopilot system ‘in lieu of a required second-in-command’ pilot.”
The Payroll Support Program under Division A, Title IV, Subtitle B of the CARES Act provides payroll support for the continuation of payment of employee wages, salaries, and benefits.
A total of $25 billion is available for passenger air carriers with $4 billion for cargo air carriers, and $3 billion for contractors. The amount provided is based on payroll expenses from April 2019 through September 2019, subject to proration, the Treasury’s website stipulates.
Funds received by these air carriers and contractors must exclusively be used for the continuation of payment of employee wages, salaries, and benefits.
