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uFly issued a statement Thursday seeking to “clarify” its relationship with Casado, claiming he was not an employee “but rather an independent consultant who was retained by the company to fly the simulator.”

“Over time, there developed a difference of opinion as to how to do that between Mr. Casado and uFly which ultimately resulted in uFly ending the relationship yesterday,” the statement said.

Teixeira added that he had no intention of “offending fellow Canadians or anyone else for that matter.”

In a tweet earlier, Casado wrote “My boss had me training a new guy the last few days, and now that he can do my job, and CNN left, he fired me. That’s Ufly.”

CNN spokeswoman Bridget Leininger noted Casado is an employee of uFLY, not CNN.

Other media organizations had sought to use the simulator over the last month, but CNN blocked them by keeping it booked (the company wouldn’t say how much this cost).

Leininger said CNN will not broadcast from the simulator on Thursday but may do so in the future.

Although CNN has been criticized for its blanket coverage, its viewership rose 84% last month over what it had been before the plane went missing, the Nielsen company said.

“The amount of coverage seems to be in relation to the amount of interest and the amount of interest seems to be incredibly high probably because all of us have some theory as to what might have happened,” said Savidge, who’s now recognized on the street as “that cockpit guy.” His own theories have fluctuated. Savidge once believed it was an accident but now thinks Flight 370 was taken down intentionally.