(Courtesy: The Lincoln Municipal Airport)
The Lincoln Airport has finalized its audit of failed airline service Red Way, and now is working to guarantee refunds to stiffed customers.
The Lincoln Municipal Airport and air charter Global Crossing Airlines launched Red Way in early June… only to shut down operations, abruptly, just 3 month later. As of September, there were approximately 600 customers still waiting for refunds to be processed and received from unfulfilled flights.
In August, the State Auditor and Airport announced audits of the Red Way’s finances, respectively.
At a meeting earlier today, the Lincoln Airport Authority reviewed and accepted the findings of their independent audit. Following this, the Board authorized the final transfer of $3 million in reserved ARPA funds to the airline. Included in this action, the Board is signaling to Red Way that a portion of that payment is specifically reserved for passenger refunds.
According to the Board, their audit revealed discrepancies in fuel numbers and, to a lesser extent, block hours. However, the audit ultimately concluded Red Way underbilled operations as opposed to overbilled.
The Airport said they will continue to work with the State Auditor as they review the entirety of the Red Way project.
“While the Board understands and shares the frustration of those Red Way passengers who encountered delays in receiving refunds, the Airport was not involved in any of the passenger transactions and, as a result, were limited in our ability to assist,” said Board Chair John Olsson in an official statement, “With today’s actions we are taking steps to assist the remaining Red Way customers who have not received refund.”
Olson added, “With Fly Next’s request for final payment, the Airport felt it was important to not only audit Fly Next for the purpose of verifying the validity of the current request, but also ensure that there were no discrepancies in any of the prior requests leading to overdraws.”
The official statement concluded, The Lincoln Airport will continue to examine internal processes and work with community partners to provide the best service to customers.