'A publicity stunt': Delta moves to dismiss malicious prosecution suit from former pilot

SALT LAKE CITY — Delta representatives called the defamation suit lodged against them by a former pilot "a publicity stunt geared toward rehabilitating the reputation of a careless first officer who does not believe the rules apply to him."

The airline filed a sealed motion in federal court to dismiss the case on March 28, according to a document obtained by KSL.com through a source who wished to remain anonymous.

Former Delta pilot Jonathan Dunn, an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel, was charged in October 2023 with felony interference with a flight crew using a dangerous weapon, carrying a punishment of mandatory incarceration up to life imprisonment, the complaint says.

It was filed over a year after prosecutors alleged that first officer Dunn made threatening comments to the captain, Robert Banish, during a flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City. A pregnant, off-duty flight attendant experienced a miscarriage when they were east of Denver, according to court documents, and the team determined they would continue to Utah without diverting.

Banish said they could land at the Grand Junction Regional Airport if the medical situation got worse, according to the complaint. Court records say, "Dunn joked that he could use his service pistol as a veto to stop Banish from diverting to Grand Junction."

In a detention memo, prosecutors claimed Dunn "described in substantial detail how he would shoot the captain multiple times for 'going crazy,' and he would later explain he had to shoot all the rounds he possessed because the captain was 'still twitching.'"

The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the case in August 2024, after it "came into possession of previously unknown evidence." The motion said "the United States has reassessed the strength of the evidence and the crime charged. As it continues this assessment, it no longer believes it can prove all elements of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt."

According to the defamation complaint, Dunn said that evidence was a call recording from Banish's initial conversation with the FBI, in which the man "repeatedly acknowledges that Dunn was joking," the complaint says.

In December 2024, Dunn countersued, alleging malicious prosecution against all parties, defamation against Delta and Banish, and breach of duty of fair representation against the union organization Air Line Pilots Association International and two of its representatives.

He claimed that Banish's "false accusation," spurred by a personal grudge, led to the loss of his pilot's and airman's medical licenses, loss of his job, and a temporary pause on his security clearance, all while costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Banish "had grown to dislike Dunn personally," Dunn's lawsuit argues, becoming "contemptuous" of Dunn after learning the man objected to Air Force COVID-19 vaccine policies on religious freedom grounds, despite the three-day series of flights being the first time the two worked together.

The defense rebutted the assertion, saying, "Capt. Banish is a conservative who voted for President (Donald) Trump both times, did not agree with mandatory COVID vaccines, is very supportive of the Second Amendment and owns and uses guns. The truth is that Capt. Banish thought Dunn was 'not normal' because he threatened to shoot Capt. Banish until he stopped 'twitching' while Capt. Banish was flying a commercial aircraft full of passengers."

The defendants of the countersuit argue they are not responsible for "the consequences of Dunn's statements, including his criminal prosecution and the loss of his employment as a commercial pilot. Rather, such consequences are all the natural repercussions of Dunn's own, admitted wrongdoing."

Delta argues that none of Dunn's claims are "actionable," and that the Aviation and Transportation Security Act passed after 9/11 "specifically grants absolute immunity to airlines and their employees for reporting potential threats to aircraft and passenger safety," and "allowing Dunn to retaliate against the Delta defendants by suing them personally for reporting alarming behavior would eviscerate the purpose of (Aviation and Transportation Security Act) immunity."

When Delta initially investigated the incident, Dunn "did not deny any of the statements reported by Capt. Banish ... but instead tried to downplay them as jokes," says the motion to dismiss claims.

Delta's Workplace Violence Policy, the defense says, prohibits "threatening or intimidating comments or gestures (even said in jest), threatening or intimidating pranks, jokes ... and actual or threatened physical contact."

"Delta concluded that 'threats of murder by gunshot by someone armed with a handgun and trained to use it could never be perceived as a joke,'" the motion says.

The Transportation Security Agency "showed up on Dunn's doorstep to confiscate his credentials and service weapon," according to court documents, after the incident was reported.

In a transcript of the FBI call with Banish, on Aug. 25, 2022, the captain said he didn't "know if (Dunn) was joking or serious" and said he told Dunn, "I'm sure you're joking here, but the guy with a gun doesn't get to joke about shooting the captain in the airplane. And he didn't really have a response."

"Part of the reason for my call is, I guess, No. 1, just to report this incident," Banish said. "And there is an element that — there's something that just seems off about this individual. He doesn't seem completely normal to me. And I guess I'm in a situation where if nothing were to happen with this guy, I wouldn't be surprised, but if there were a serious incident, I would also not be surprised."

On Monday, the pilot union implicated in the suit, Air Line Pilots Association International, and its two representatives who were included, also filed a motion to dismiss the case against them along similar lines.

Dunn has until May 12 to respond.

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