AMCK Aviation has threatened to ground or impound 14 of Frontier Airlines' Airbus A230-200N aircraft over a dispute between the leasing company and the airline dating back to 2022 soon after AMCK Aviation was taken over by Carlyle Aviation.
In a statement to the court, Frontier told a New York District Court that if AMCK Aviation were to impound or ground these aircraft, the airline would face damaging implications that would disrupt operations, and that would ground about a tenth of its fleet.
Frontier has taken legal action against the owner-trustees of AMCK Aviation namely, Wells Fargo Trust Company and UMB Bank. The New York court has ordered Frontier to pay a $2 million bond to cover the costs of AMCK Aviation.
Expressing displeasure over the Carlyle acquisition of AMCK Aviation, Frontier has claimed that its assets were raided by the acquisition and since Frontier already had an agreement with AMCK for 15 aircraft, its consent was needed prior to any such deal. Instead, the airline said that it was only informed of the takeover through a press release.
Commenting on the injunction, Frontier said: “When Frontier proposed reasonable conditions on those assignments to protect its right, defendants declared a lease default and threatened to ground or repossess the aircraft – a devastating action not just for Frontier but for the traveling public.”
Although Frontier has confirmed that it is planning to honour its repayment obligations, Carlyle Aviation has demanded that Frontier sign its rights away to approve Carlyle’s assignments of the aircraft.
All of these aircraft are Airbus A320neos and make up a more than 10% of the airline’s fleet forcing Frontier to cancel some of its flights causing a major problem for the passengers during the busy summer period.
Frontier’s entire fleet is leased from lessors like AerCap, SMBC, Avolon and BOC aviation among others.