Message from Holly
Hegeman: Why I Am Going Public Over This
Bringing the public glare of scrutiny to these types of
continued bullying tactics, and making sure that such
tactics are not financially injurious to me, or my business
-- is the only way to answer this type of ridiculous
behavior on the part of Jonathan Ornstein and
Mesa Air
Group.
Since being sued
by Jonathan Ornstein and Mesa Air
Group, I have heard
from a number of reporters who cover this industry -- who
have told me stories of being screamed at over the phone by
Mr. Ornstein, of being hung up on, of being threatened with
a lawsuit if they published certain material, and of having
the concept "off the record" misused by Mr. Ornstein.
I have also been
contacted by many PlaneBusiness
Banter subscribers
and PlaneBuzz
readers -- asking, "How can I
help?" Frankly, this makes me a bit uncomfortable. The last
time Mesa
filed suit against me, even
though many of our subscribers offered to help, I never
asked for help in the defense of what I had written. But
this time -- I'm not going to be the lone stoic flagbearer
for the First Amendment. Nah, been there, done that. It
cost me thousands and thousands of dollars. Nope -- this
time I gladly welcome public support.
I
believe that it is vitally important to send a message that
it is not "okay" to sue someone, costing them time and
money, just because you don't like what that person is
writing about you and your company. And it is even more
important to take away one of the main reasons people such
as Jonathan Ornstein and Mesa
engage in such lawsuits and
the onerous financial burden that inevitably accompanies
them -- the threat of financial ruin for the person who has
dared to write about them and their various activities.
That is why this site was created. The concept for the site
was suggested to me by a subscriber of PlaneBusiness
Banter. Another reader
will be advising me on a pro bono basis -- in regard to
media coverage. The logo you see on this site was created
by yet another subscriber of PlaneBusiness Banter.
Thank you
to all of
you. And an
especially big thank you to those of you who have already
contributed to our legal defense fund.
For those of you who have not already donated, you can do
so here.