EAGLE Co-Chair Castagna Sued By Former Employer

National Air Transportation Association (NATA) President and co-chair of the End Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) Curt Castagna has allegedly been fired by his former employer and is being sued for damages related to his longtime employment there. According to court documents filed in California earlier this month by his employer, Aerolease Associates LLC, Castagna was fired on April 30. The court filing includes a long list of allegations regarding Castagna's operation of a business of his own while he was working for Aerolease. Aerolease has its head office at Long Beach and operates, leases and manages hangars at Van Nuys Airport. A copy of the court complaint is copied below, as is a news release issued by Castagna on Wednesday.

In the news release, Castagna says he's "stepped away" from his job at Aerolease to concentrate on running the Aeroplex Group Partners, the company that is at the heart of Aerolease's court action against Castagna. In the news release, he says he remains president of NATA and that he's also president of both the Long Beach and Van Nuys Airport Associations. He did not mention his status at EAGLE. He also didn't refer to the court action but said he looked forward "to working collaboratively with the ownership interests of the Aerolease Group entities to unwind long-standing business relationships in a manner that allows all parties to flourish in the future, while tenants and users receive the same exceptional service they have experienced for generations.” 

AVweb has asked for comment from Castagna, other members of EAGLE and others associated with the effort to replace 100LL with an unleaded fuel.