Anatomy of a dogfight

BARK Air flights for humans and their dogs now landing at HPN contrary to Terminal Use Agreement; County files lawsuit

June 5, 2024 at 10:56 p.m.

A BARK Air flight takes off with dogs and their owners. (Courtesy photo of BARK Air)

Bark Air and Westchester County, the owners of the Westchester County Airport (HPN) where BARK Air flights with dog owners and their canine pets now land and take off for the West Coast and England,  are in a dogfight.

As the Westmore News reported exclusively Apr. 24 County authorities were stunned to see a publicity release from BARK announcing a service (selling more than nine seats on a plane to humans—not including their dogs) using a private terminal on the Fixed Base Operators (FBO) side of HPN.

The County sent BARK a letter saying they could not commence their service without signing up with the County’s Terminal Use Agreement (TUA).

The Westmore News sent BARK officials and their press office e-mail inquiries about how they were planning to proceed given the County’s warning letter.

They responded: “BARK Air will be sharing all of the requested information with Westchester County Airport well within the 30-day deadline and is in full compliance with the Westchester County Code.”

Last week, the first Bark flight landed at HPN using a Talon Air chartered 14 passenger seat Gulfstream Aerospace GV jet. Those seats were all for sale on the internet, a clear violation of the TUA and a clear lie based on the Bark Air promise to the Westmore News.

BARK Air’s CEO brags about
seat sales violating County TUA

In a nationally distributed interview with the news organization Axios on May 24, BARK Founder and CEO Matt Meeker claimed 100 tickets had already been sold at $6,000 per human and dog, that each flight can take at least 10 passengers, and that they’d had over 15,000 inquiries from prospective passengers.

The Westmore News e-mailed Westchester County Attorney John Nonna with a copy of the Axios story and asked whether this meant the County and BARK were now in the lawsuit phase of their relationship.

Nonna replied: “I am sorry. I cannot comment at this time.” That was before a copy of the County’s lawsuit in Federal Court was emailed by Nonna to this newspaper on June 5.

Similar inquiries to BARK CEO Meeker via cell phone, e-mail, and text went unanswered. 

The only new information on BARK provided in other online stories is that flights to England, which are currently priced at $8,000 for each human and their dog, are now, instead of going to Stansted Airport, headed for Biggin Hill Airport (BQH) near London.

Bark is not the first charter airline to find itself in Federal Court fighting a County lawsuit. Famously the County took JSX to court to stop them from selling tickets on the internet with flights to Miami and Dallas, among other destinations. All those flights leave from FBO operations on the private side of the airport.

As the Westmore News reported Oct 5, 2023, it’s not just the County trying to stop “charter” airlines from avoiding the main terminal. It’s the Federal Aviation Administration as well.

To quote that story:

“In a proposed rule issued Aug. 24, 2023 and posted in the Federal Register on Aug. 29, 2023, the FAA says it wants to require all air charter services to operate under the same safety regulations as all airlines.”

That rule change is being fought by JSX, and presumably BARK Air will also be fighting it, in addition to the County’s lawsuit in Federal Court.

But the flights will continue until the Federal Courts have their say.