Empty promises were fuel for Pace

(By Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal) - For nearly three years, the ownership of Pace Airlines Inc. had one command for the caretaker management.

"There was no direction from ownership except ‘keep it afloat and sell it,'" according to an official who worked with Pace management while it was owned by the estate of Robert Brooks. Brooks, the former owner of Hooters of America Inc. and Hooters Air, died in July 2006.

Employees for the charter and maintenance company were paid, but many were under salary freezes, and operational budgets were stretched thin. The management fell behind hundreds of thousands of dollars on lease payments to the Airport Commission of Forsyth County. According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, Hooters Air had at least $8.9 million in creditor claims at one time.