Airport authority member is investor in OneJet
An Allegheny County Airport Authority board member’s role with OneJet was not limited to serving as a nonvoting director of the airline. It turns out he was an investor in the regional carrier as well.
Robert Lewis, vice chairman of the authority’s board, currently is an investor in OneJet, Matthew Maguire, the airline’s CEO, confirmed Monday.
He would not say how much Mr. Lewis has invested. The carrier is being sued by the authority for breach of contract for not delivering on promised flights at Pittsburgh
International Airport.
The investment marks the latest twist in the saga of the business-oriented airline, which received $1 million in incentives from the authority to provide service to 10 destinations, including seven new markets. Mr. Lewis’ investment was not made until after the subsidies had been awarded, according to authority solicitor Jeffrey Letwin. The authority, in a lawsuit filed Aug. 10, is seeking to recoup $763,000 of the $1 million.
In a telephone interview Monday, Mr. Lewis, who also was appointed by the authority to serve as a nonvoting member of the OneJet board, at first said he “did not invest,” but when pressed further refused to discuss anything about the carrier.
As a board member, Mr. Lewis voted to give authority CEO Christina Cassotis general authorization in April 2016 to award incentives to airlines interested in serving Pittsburgh International. But Mr. Letwin said Mr. Lewis did not vote to ratify the $1 million to OneJet. Any investments by Mr. Lewis “came well after” the subsidy was awarded as part of a June 2016 agreement, he said.
Mr. Lewis did participate in three votes involving the airline, according to Mr. Letwin. The first, in October 2014, was to approve a OneJet agreement to operate at the airport. The second, in April 2015, was to authorize a lease of ticket counters. The third, in June 2016, was to approve OneJet’s inclusion in the master lease agreement with other airlines.
Mr. Lewis, head of Pittsburgh-based Orbital Engineering, was not an investor in OneJet when any of those votes took place, Mr. Letwin said. The solicitor did not see any conflict in Mr. Lewis serving on the board while being an investor in OneJet, as long as he recuses himself on any votes involving the airline.
Last week, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who appoints airport authority board members with approval by county council, said he hadn’t seen anything to suggest that Mr. Lewis used his influence to enrich himself financially.
“Most of the folks who have quote unquote invested have done so to help [OneJet] buy planes and get capital to operate, not so much as an investment to make money, but an investment to help Pittsburgh and to grow jobs and to connect to the cities we need to go to,” he said. Mr. Fitzgerald said he has no plans to remove Mr. Lewis or to ask him to step down.
Other board members have been involved with companies that did business with the authority and were OK as long as they recused themselves in votes, Mr. Letwin said. One of those companies was Orbital Engineering, which was awarded a contract with the authority before Mr. Lewis was appointed to the board. The company no longer has any contracts with the authority.
With the filing of the authority’s lawsuit, Mr. Lewis’ role as a nonvoting member of the OneJet board also has raised questions. If his status does not change, he will be serving on both the board bringing the lawsuit and the board defending it.
RobertCaruso, executive director of the state Ethics Commission, has said the dual roles could present the appearance of a conflict of interest. However, Mr. Letwin saw no conflict in Mr. Lewis investing in OneJet while serving at the authority’s behest on the airline’s board. “It was for the benefit of the authority that he had a voice there,” he said.
Mr. Lewis did not list any financial interest in OneJet on his 2016 financial disclosure form. He has not filed the 2017 form, which was due in May. The form requires board members to disclose any business in which they own more than 5 percent of the equity or more than 5 percent of assets.