A charter service that flies wealthy New Yorkers to the exclusive Yellowstone Mountain Club in Montana claims that Westchester County illegally denied use of the county airport.
Private Jet Services Group accused the county of discrimination and demanded $4.8 million, in a complaint filed on June 6 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Westchester County Attorney John Nonna said the lawsuit was just served and he has not delved into the details yet. But “the county does not believe there was any discrimination.”
Yellowstone Mountain Club caters to the rich and famous, with 15,000 mountain acres to accommodate skiing, golfing, fly fishing, and horseback riding. Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Brady, and Justin Timberlake are reportedly members.
Membership costs $500,000 plus $78,000 in annual dues, according to a recent Forbes magazine report. Condos typically cost about $15.5 million and houses sell for $20 million or more.
Last summer, according to the lawsuit, Yellowstone hired Private Jet Services, of Miami Beach, to provide seasonal charter flights between Westchester County and Bozeman, Montana. Private Jet Services made a deal with New Pacific Airlines, of Anchorage, Alaska, to operate the flights using a Boeing 757-200 configured for 78 VIP passengers.
The 757-200 is a heavy aircraft, according to the lawsuit, and requires prior approval to use the airport.
Private Jet Services claims that April Gasparri, the airport’s executive director, approved the charters only if other types of aircraft were used. She allegedly cited a new policy that allows no more than one 757-200 on the ground at any given time and she referred to restricting heavy aircraft to one per day to preserve runway life.
Meanwhile, Private Jet Services claims, Delta Airlines operates charters for the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers using a 757-200.
On Jan. 5, the same day that Private Jet Services and New Pacific Airlines were denied use of the airport, Delta allegedly landed two charter flights with 757s.
The policy is not new, Nonna said. It was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and has been in effect for at least 40 years.
From this past December through March, he said, New Pacific Airlines requested 12 round trips, and only two were rejected.
Without assurances that members of Yellowstone Mountain Club can fly in and out of Westchester, Private Jet Services says, the club cancelled the contract for the 2025 – 2026 season and beyond, costing the charter service $4.8 million over the next four years.
The denied use of the airport while simultaneously allowing Delta to operate similar charter flights, Private Jet Services claims, was arbitrary, deliberate and discriminatory.
Nonna said the policy on heavy aircraft applies to everyone and is meant to protect the runways and maintain safety.
