Boutique Silicon Valley Air Service Sued for Dodging Bills
The company that actually flies Surf Air’s planes alleges the air service switched to another carrier to avoid paying what it owes.
Passengers on a Surf Air jet, to Coachella from Burbank, Calif., in 2014.
Photographer: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Surf Air Inc., which offers an “all-you-can-fly” monthly air travel membership service, owes $3.1 million for more than a year of unpaid flight services in California, according to a lawsuit by the company that operated the carrier’s flights.
Encompass Aviation LLC said it agreed in May 2017 to provide Surf Air’s California service but hasn’t been paid in a timely fashion for its services since then. The complaint, filed late on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, comes four days after Surf Air switched to charter operator Advanced Air LLC, a move that Encompass contends breached its agreement with Surf.