Frontier Airlines, Inc. v. AMCK Aviation Holdings Ireland Limited
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:22-cv-02943
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Frontier Airlines v. AMCK Aviation, Judge Engelmayer granted a request to seal exhibits containing nonparties’ privacy information and confidential business information.
The order affects the parties seeking to seal Exhibits 1 and 2, the nonparties whose identities and ownership or investment information appear in those exhibits, and members of the public seeking access to the filings.
What happened
In Frontier Airlines, Inc. v. AMCK Aviation Holdings Ireland Limited, certain defendants asked the court to seal two exhibits filed in connection with Frontier’s request to convert a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.
The exhibits contained information about nonparties, including ownership interests, corporate structure, and investors, as well as confidential business information. The court found that this information was not important to deciding the motion and that the privacy and confidentiality interests outweighed the public’s presumed right of access.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted the request and ordered the exhibits sealed.
The detailed version
- Frontier Airlines, Inc. v. AMCK Aviation Holdings Ireland Limited · No. 1:22-cv-02943
- Paul Engelmayer
- July 19, 2023
Background
Certain remaining defendants submitted a letter asking the court to seal Exhibits 1 and 2 to the declaration of Jed M. Schwartz. The exhibits had also been filed in unredacted form in connection with Frontier Airlines, Inc.’s reply concerning its application to convert a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.
The requested sealing concerned information designated as strictly confidential and not for distribution. The exhibits identified nonparties, described their shares in other entities, and provided additional details about the corporate structure of Carlyle Aviation Management Limited and Maverick Aviation (Ireland) DAC, including information about Maverick’s investors.
Court’s Analysis
The court applied the presumption of public access to judicial documents and the rule that sealing is permitted when it is essential to protect important interests and is narrowly tailored. The court concluded that, even assuming the exhibits were judicial documents, the presumption of public access was weak because the information did not directly affect the court’s adjudication.
The court found that the identity of Carlyle Aviation Management Limited’s ultimate parent company, related corporate ownership information, and the identities of Maverick’s investors were not dispositive of any issue before the court. The court determined that the privacy interests of nonparties and the interest in protecting confidential business information outweighed the presumed public right of access.
Disposition
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer granted the request to seal the exhibits. The opinion does not address the merits of Frontier’s application for a preliminary injunction.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.