Vista Charters v. Airmotive Specialties CA6

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In March 2020, Vista sued Airmotive, asserting fraud, breach of contract, and related claims arising from Airmotive’s restoration of a vintage World War II Mustang P51 aircraft owned by Vista and referred to by the parties as “Sonny Boy.” According to the allegations in the complaint, Airmotive specializes in the restoration of vintage aircraft. In September 2011, Airmotive told Vista that it would take approximately 4,305 hours and cost $590,904 to complete the restoration of the aircraft to “ ‘flight state.’ ” Airmotive promised to complete the restoration project in a reasonable amount of time and for the amount quoted, unless justifiable, previously unforeseen conditions required more work. In fact, Airmotive took over six years to complete the project and billed Vista $2,263,340.57 for 22,550 hours of work, offering no explanation for the cost overrun or additional hours. Vista alleged that Airmotive did not provide the requested documentation or records of its work, and as a result Vista could not ascertain “whether there was a fraudulent representation at the inception, or fraudulent billing.” Airmotive responded by generally denying the…