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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Sling Pilot Academy, which earlier this month lost its appeal to reverse the non-renewal of its Torrance business license, has obtained a temporary restraining order preventing the city from blocking renewal of the license pending an early 2024 hearing on a preliminary injunction.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin issued the ruling Thursday and scheduled the hearing on the preliminary injunction for Jan. 11. The City Council on Dec. 12 denied Sling's appeal of the decision to not renew its license.
Attorneys for the city opposed the TRO.
"While the city is willing to agree to a reasonably shortened time schedule for a hearing on a preliminary injunction, it strongly opposes the issuance of a TRO," the city's lawyers argued in their court papers "(Sling) has no reasonable probability of ultimately prevailing on the merits of this case, and any private hardship it may face pales in comparison to the strong public interest in allowing the city to regulate businesses in its jurisdiction pursuant to its constitutional police powers and enforce its legislative body's enactments."
However, the academy's attorneys maintained in their court papers that federal law is clear that only the federal government, and more specifically, the Federal Aviation Administration, exclusively regulate flying aircraft.
"The (Sling) petition seeks to remedy an egregious wrong being perpetrated by city to run Sling out of town," according to the school's attorneys court papers, which further state that the city is relying on a 1977 resolution which was never previously enforced that limits the number of flight schools at Torrance Municipal Airport-Zamperini Field to six.
Therefore, federal law preempts any local regulation limiting the number of flight schools, according to the Sling attorneys' court papers.
"If not renewed, Sling will lose its business license on Jan. 1 and will no longer be allowed to operate its flight school business," the Sling lawyers further argued in their court papers. "This endangers the employment of 90 persons at Sling and disrupts student pilots who are actively training with Sling to become airline pilots."
Sling began operations in Torrance in July 2013 and received a letter dated Oct. 24 from city Finance Director Sheila Poisson that its business license would not be renewed because of the six-school limit, the academy lawyers state in their court papers. But although Sling is listed as the seventh flight school, it actually is the sixth one because one flight school identified by the city, does not actually operate such a business, according to the school's attorneys' court papers.
The Sling attorneys further maintain that the City Council "embarked on a campaign to severely limit aircraft flying overhead" because of residents' complaints and the council's "hostility to flying aircraft."