MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Horry County filed a lawsuit against the organizers of the Wings Over Myrtle Beach air show, claiming the management company did not pay some extra transportation costs, but the company says it just paid the county this week.
The 2018 Wings Over Myrtle Beach air show thrilled tens of thousands of fans on the last weekend in April, but on the ground was a lot of traffic around Myrtle Beach International Airport and parking issues on the Saturday of the show, April 28.
That made it difficult for some fans who wanted to get close to the planes until Horry County rented more buses on Sunday, April 29.
“The wait times were resolved,” said JLC AirShow Management spokesperson Brenda Little. “The unfortunate part is we received an invoice and never authorized the buses, so there has been an ongoing disagreement.”
Horry County, which owns the airport, is suing JLC, claiming it did not fulfill its part of a contract. The county claims JLC’s transportation services were “woefully inadequate” and caused some people in remote parking lots to spend hours waiting for buses.
The suit asks for $31,782.95, which the county says it paid Horry County Schools and Waccamaw Regional Transportation Authority for the Sunday buses.
JLC says it’s surprised by the lawsuit because, it says, it paid the county that money Tuesday.
“It made more sense to actually satisfy the invoice, so the payment has actually been mailed and already received,” Little said.
The county’s suit also claims JLC underreported how much money the show made since the county gets a cut of the revenue, but JLC denies that. JLC also says planned taxiway construction at the airport is why the show won’t return next year, not the legal battle.
The company also wants to come back to Myrtle Beach in the future.
“Given the current situation we’re in right now, certainly we’d have to work through some things, but the community could not have been more supportive,” said Little.
An Horry County spokesperson says the county doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits.
Click here to read more about the lawsuit.
