[1 O:tiGINAL 

·TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 

•. IN THE MATTER OF: 

BRENDAN AIRWAYS, LLC 

FAA-2012-0020 

(::J 

,..,. 

··-

RECEIVED 

Pages: . 1 through 9 AUG- 6 2012 

Place: Washington, D.C. HEARING DOCKET 

Date: July 23, 2012 

HERITAGE REPORTING CORPORATION 

Official Reporters 

1220 L Street, N. W., Suite 600 

Washington, D.C. 20005-4018 

(202) 628-4888 

contracts@hrccourtreporters. com 
1 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

IN THE MATTER OF: 

FAA-2012-0020 

BRENDAN AIRWAYS, LLC 

1:33 p.m. 

Suite 600, Conference Room 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

1220 L Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 

Monday, 

July 23, 2012 

The parties met, pursuant to the notice, at 

BEFORE: HONORABLE J.E. SULLIVAN 

Administrative Law Judge 

APPEARANCES: (Via Telephone) 

On Behalf of Complainant: 

ZACHARY M. BERMAN, Esquire 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Office of Regional Counsel 

Eastern Region 

1 Aviation Plaza 

Jamaica, New York 11434 

On Behalf of Respondent: 

JASON DICKSTEIN, Esquire 

Washington Aviation Group 

2233 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 503 

Washington, D.C. 20007 

(202) 628-6776 

~\RECEIVED 

. AUG .. 6 2012 

HEARING DOCKET 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888 
1 

2 (1:33 p.m.) 

3 JUDGE SULLIVAN: We're on the record in the 

4 matter of Brendan Airways, LLC. This is Docket No. 

5 FAA-2012-0020. Today is Monday, July 23, 2012, and 

6 the parties have convened for a 1:30 p.m. litigation 

7 scheduling conference. The FAA attorney, Zachary M. 

8 Berman, is present and appearing by telephone. The 

9 Respondent's attorney, Jason Dickstein, is present and 

10 appearing by telephone. Also present, sitting as an 

11 observer, is Cody L. Smith, an attorney who works at 

12 the Office of Hearings. Good afternoon, counsel. 

13 ALL: Good afternoon. 

14 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Dickstein, I believe 

15 congratulations are in order to you. I believe you 

16 last told us that today is your wedding anniversary, 

17 so we should start out congratulating you. 

18 MR. DICKSTEIN: Thank you, Your Honor. 

19 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Now let's talk about what's 

20 going to be going on today. As I recall, when we last 

21 convened on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, Mr. Dickstein, 

22 you were telling us that your client had discontinued 

23 operations in January 2012 and was in the process of 

24 surrendering its business certificate. You had also 

25 indicated that you didn't think that your client was 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888 

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1 going to be able to pursue this matter through 

2 litigation, and you were going to see if you could 

3 work something out with Mr. Berman and your client. 

4 Can you tell me if those discussions were 

5 fruitful in any way and, if so, where do you want to 

6 go with this conference today? 

7 MR. DICKSTEIN: Well, I feel that the 

8 conversations have been fruitful in the sense that 

9 we're definitely moving forward. We had shared the 

10 business's financials with the administrator, and 

11 we've also made an offer of what we can put forward as 

12 far as settlement. The administrator is still 

13 reviewing our financials. I understand that they have 

14 their internal processes that they must go through. 

15 And actually one of the discussions that we 

16 had had was to request an additional month to continue 

17 the discussions in the hopes that the discussions can 

18 be concluded and we would not have to take up any more 

19 of the Court's valuable time. 

20 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Berman, what's your 

21 position on that? 

22 MR. BERMAN: I'm of the same position. We 

23 spoke earlier today, and Mr. Dickstein made some sort 

24 of settlement offer, I guess more like a nature of a 

25 tentative settlement offer, but we need more time to 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888 

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1 assess this offer. And I spoke with Mr. Dickstein and 

2 we agree that it would be appropriate to ask for 30 

3 days' more time to give us some more time to discuss 

4 settlement and hopefully reach a resolution. 

5 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Let's double-check 

6 and see how many conferences we've had. So it looks 

7 according to my calendar, and, counsel, I'll ask you 

8 to correct me if I've miscounted, that this is our 

9 only second litigation scheduling conference at this 

10 point. Does that sound right to you, Mr. Berman? 

11 MR. BERMAN: It sounds right. 

12 JUDGE SULLIVAN: And Mr. Dickstein? 

13 MR. DICKSTEIN: Yes, ma'am. 

14 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then I'd be happy to 

15 grant the parties' joint request for a continuance. 

16 Why don't we look at our calendars and talk about a 

17 time that's convenient to everyone. Mr. Berman, do 

18 you have a wedding anniversary coming up that you'd 

19 like to schedule this on? 

20 MR. BERMAN: Well, no, that's not until 

21 September actually, but we actually discussed this 

22 also. I discussed this with Mr. Dickstein, and we 

23 came up with two dates in late August. 

24 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. 

25 MR. BERMAN: I think actually one in I think 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

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1 late August and one early September. 

2 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Why don't you give 

3 me both and I'll check on my calendar. 

4 MR. BERMAN: Yes. 

5 MR. DICKSTEIN: I believe we discussed the 

6 fact that we're available on the 28th or 29th in 

7 August, and we are also available on the 4th of 

8 September. 

9 MR. BERMAN: Right. That's correct. 

10 JUDGE SULLIVAN: I will be in Tampa, 

11 Florida, the week of August 27 through August 31, 

12 2012, so that week is out for me, and then I thought I 

13 would take the luxury of the day off on September 4, 

14 which is the day after Labor Day. Do you want to look 

15 at your calendars and see if you can find something a 

16 little farther out than September 4 for me? 

17 MR. DICKSTEIN: I'm available on the 7th, 

18 which is the Friday of that week after Labor Day. 

19 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And that sounded 

20 like Mr. Dickstein to me, so I'm going to turn to you, 

21 Mr. Berman. If I recall, you take a flex day on 

22 Fridays, is that right? 

23 

24 Fridays. 

25 

MR. BERMAN: Actually I don't work on 

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then let's stick 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

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1 with you, Mr. Berman. In terms of your scheduling and 

2 your time availability, can you give us a couple 

3 different days in September where you have some 

4 flexibility for a followup litigation scheduling 

5 conference? 

6 MR. BERMAN: Okay. I'd say anytime between 

7 September 10 through the 13th, the 20th, the 24th or 

8 the 27th. 

9 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Dickstein, 

10 starting with you, I will be out of the office through 

11 September 12, so I have September 13 available. I 

12 also have most of September 20 and then most of 

13 September 27 open. Do any of those dates work for you 

14 on your calendar? 

15 MR. DICKSTEIN: The 27th would be great with 

16 me. 

17 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Berman, on the 

18 27th, do you have any blackout times, or can we set 

19 this at our leisure? 

20 MR. BERMAN: I just want to check one thing 

21 here. Actually I'm not available. That's a holiday, 

22 a religious holiday, Thursday, September 27. 

23 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. So, Mr. Dickstein, 

24 let me turn back to you. Do you have anything open on 

25 Thursday, the 20th? 

Heritage-Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888 

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i 

1 MR. BERMAN: Actually I misspoke. I will be 

2 available on the 27th. The holiday is on the 26th. 

3 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. So, Mr. Berman, it 

4 sounds like the 27th suddenly reappeared on your 

5 calendar as a possibility? 

6 MR. BERMAN: Yes, that's correct. 

7 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then, turning to 

8 you, Mr. Dickstein, do you have a preference in terms 

9 of time on the 27th? 

10 MR. DICKSTEIN: On my calendar, I'm entirely 

11 open, and I have to apologize, I don't have the 

12 holidays on my calendar, so my wife might have yelled 

13 at me if I had scheduled something for the holidays. 

14 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Berman, just so 

15 that we know, what holiday are you talking about for 

16 September 26, 2012? 

17 MR. BERMAN: Yom Kippur, which starts on the 

18 evening of the 25th of September and ends on the 

19 evening of the 26th, so we're okay for the 27th. 

20 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Berman, is there 

21 any time on the 27th that's better or worse for you? 

22 MR. BERMAN: I'm flexible for that day. 

23 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. How about if we set 

24 this for 10 a.m. Eastern time on September 27? 

25 MR. BERMAN: Okay. 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

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1 JUDGE SULLIVAN: And then1 counsel/ if you 

2 do reach a settlement/ please let me know so that I 

3 have plenty of time to cancel the court reporter 

4 without incurring late penalty fees 1 which they do 

5 have a right to assess against us if we don 1 t let them 

6 know ahead of time. So I will send out a notice to 

7 both of you regarding the new date and time 1 which is 

8 Thursday 1 September 27 1 2012 1 at 10 a.m. Eastern time. 

9 And in the meantime 1 I wish you good luck in 

10 your private negotiations. With that 1 on behalf of 

11 the FAA 1 Mr. Berman1 is there anything else you 1 d like 

12 to add or correct the record on behalf of your client? 

13 MR. BERMAN: N0 1 Judge. 

14 JUDGE SULLIVAN: And 1 Mr. Dickstein1 

15 anything you would like to add or correct on behalf of 

16 your client? 

17 MR. DICKSTEIN: No 1 Your Honor. Thank you 

18 very much. 

19 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Thank you both very 

20 much for your appearance today. It appears our 

21 business is complete. We can go off the record 1 and I 

22 wish you all a good day. 

23 (Whereupon 1 at 1:42 p.m. 1 the litigation 

24 scheduling conference in the above-entitled matter was 

25 concluded.) 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888 

8 
REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 

DOCKET NO . : fA A- '2.0 12- 00 2.0 

cAsE TITLE: Brmcleu1 A-rrwat.ts, LLe._., 

HEARING DATE: ::.rj23j/ZLOCATION: 12..20 L s-t. NW, sw1e l.oCO ( --lelepnoniC) 

wo.s\tlt ngttm 1 v~ '1.0oos; 

I hereby certify that the proceedings and 

evidence are contained fully and accurately on the 

tapes and notes reported by me at the hearing in the 

above case before D<.~e.-tT <>'~TYcxnspoY"tQ:n'oV1 

Date: ~/25/12 

Official Reporter 

Heritage Reporting Corporation Suite 600 

1220 L Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005-4018 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888