Jan. 6—GUILFORD COUNTY — A falling out between a jet aircraft manufacturer based at Piedmont Triad International Airport and one of its largest customers, which also is based in Guilford County, has become a public feud and the subject of a federal lawsuit.
The dispute between Honda Aircraft Co., which makes the HondaJet, and Jet It, a Greensboro-based fractional jet ownership company — which means companies or individuals pay for the right to a share of a jet's operating time — that operates a large HondaJet fleet, broke into the open after Jet It's CEO sent customers a letter before Thanksgiving complaining of Honda Aircraft's "grossly inadequate support."
CEO Glenn Gonzalez also alleged that HondaJets required an abnormal amount of maintenance.
"At a minimum, we expected the HondaJet to meet an industry standard of 85% availability. Meaning that 85% of the fleet is flyable on any given day. However, for every nine days that we fly a HondaJet, it requires six days of maintenance," according to an excerpt of the letter that was reported by the aviation news magazine Flying.
Honda Aircraft filed suit against Jet It on Dec. 27 in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, calling Gonzalez's allegations false and defamatory and also alleging that Jet It violated a contractual requirement never to resell any HondaJet for at least a year after Jet It bought it.
Honda Aircraft is seeking unspecified damages in its lawsuit.
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