Top Fly, based at Barcelona’s Sabadell Airport, have effectively ceased trading, a full stop to a situation that has been ongoing for over 8 months.  On January 19th the company’s staff went on strike claiming the company had not paid them for four months.  Flying effectively ceased on February 12th as part of this disagreement, and last Tuesday (May 3rd) the Civil Guard impounded the entire fleet in order to help the Departments of Social Security and Finance to recoup monies owed.  No further flying is expected.

Just last Thursday, Top Fly manager, José Azemar, addressed students of the company that they would close on 10th June, and that they intended continuing to give lectures to that date, with at least 10 of their now 30 employees running these sessions.  Prior to these difficulties, Top Fly had a total of 43 employees in Sabadell and Huesca, offering rotary and fixed wing training.  A press release from the company noted a total of 590 hours flown in March 2011.

On Saturday 7th May, 60 students and their family members met with a lawyer to seek advice on undertaking collective legal proceedings to enforce their rights.  The vast majority of affected students have prepaid for their training with amounts typically ranging from 45 to 90,000 Euros (approx US$65 to 130,000).  One student has completed 60 hours of R22 training and was expecting a further 50 hours in an AS350.  The lawsuit is already at an advanced stage and seeks a return of monies to students.  The firm advising them are also looking at whether there is a criminal case to be brought against the directors for any management irregularities.

Jeremy Parkin, HeliHub.com