Cruz v. AerSale, Inc.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
WILL CRUZ, for himself and others similarly
situated,
v.
AERSALE, INC.
Case No. 2:22-cv-00857-GJF-KRS
AMENDED ORDER [Doc. 176]
Currently before the Court is the Joint Motion To Extend Class Certification Deadline And
Remaining Deadlines (Doc. 175).
In the eight months since the Scheduling Order (Doc. 162) was entered, the parties have
filed four joint motions seeking an extension of deadlines See (Docs. 167, 171, 173, 175). The
parties stated in the motion immediately preceding the present one, filed about one month ago, that
they only needed an extension of the deadline for class/collective certification motions—from
February 27, 2026 to March 27, 2026. (Doc. 173 at 1). The parties represented that “[t]here [was]
no need to modify the discovery deadline or deadlines for other motions.” (Id.). Now the parties
seek to modify all unexpired deadlines.
The reason 	given 	in 	the last 	motion for 	the request 	to 	extend 	the deadline for
class/collective certification motions was that the parties needed to complete the deposition of
third-party Hire Aviation, which they said had to be rescheduled from February 6, 2026 to February
27, 2026 due to conflicts in counsels’ schedules. (Id.). Seeming to contradict that representation in
the previous motion, the parties now state that they completed the depositions of the three corporate
representatives of Hire Aviation on February 9, 2026. (Doc. 175 at 1). They state that a further
extension of the class/collective certification motion deadline is needed from March 27, 2027 to
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April 27, 2027, because “AerSale’s deposition was scheduled by agreement for March 6, but needs
to be rescheduled in order to fully identify materials necessary to prepare the corporate
representative for the enumerated topics.” (Doc. 175 at 1). The parties further state that they have
agreed to reset AerSale’s deposition “to a mutually agreeable date,” but then suggest that they do
not intend to reschedule the deposition immediately because they are continuing to pursue
settlement, which, if it occurred, would make the deposition unnecessary.
The Court is concerned that this approach will lead to another extension motion. The filing
of a class/collective certification motion has been delayed for years now due to lack of progress in
discovery. See, e.g. (Doc. 118). Meanwhile, the case has been pending for well over three years,
and in all that time the corporate deposition of the defendant has apparently not taken place. The
Court has discussed with the parties the need to make progress on discovery at multiple status
conferences over the past year. See, e.g., (Docs. 124, 152). The Court understands that there have
been issues with obtaining needed discovery from third-parties, and appreciates the efforts counsel
have made thus far to keep the case moving along. But the parties are forewarned that, absent
exceptional circumstances, no further extensions of the class/collective motion deadline will be
granted. That means if AerSale’s deposition is required for a motion for class/collective
certification (and the Court presumes that it is), and the deadline for filing a class/collective motion
is fast approaching, the parties must not wait any longer to schedule AerSale’s deposition
regardless of ongoing settlement negotiations. The best approach is for the parties to reach
agreement now on a date to conduct AerSale’s deposition taking into account the extended
deadlines in this Order, and attempt to reach settlement within those time parameters. They should
not pursue settlement without a date for the deposition being scheduled, and then seek to change
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the time parameters set forth herein when they realize that the case is not going to settle without
having left themselves enough time to conduct needed discovery.
ACCORDINGLY, it is ORDERED that the Joint Motion To Extend Class Certification
Deadline And Remaining Deadlines (Doc. 175) is GRANTED, and the deadlines are extended as
follows:
Motion for class/collective certification: 	From March 27, 2026 to April 27, 2026
Discovery: 	From May 18, 2026 to June 17, 2026
Motions Relating to Discovery: 	From June 1, 2026 to July 1, 2026
All Other Motions: 	From June 12, 2026 to July 13, 2026.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 5th day of March, 2026.
__________________________________
KEVIN R. SWEAZEA
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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