BOGOTA: Avianca Holdings, Latin America’s second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, after failing to meet a bond payment deadline, while its pleas for coronavirus aid from Colombia’s government have so far been unsuccessful.
“Avianca is facing the most challenging crisis in our 100-year history,” Avianca Chief Executive Anko van der Werff said in a news release. The Colombian Association of Civil Aviators , a union representing many Avianca employees, said it supported the move. Efromovich told Reuters on Sunday that he disagreed with the decision to file for bankruptcy and that he was not involved in making it.The management that took over after Efromovich’s ousting was already focused on a cost-cutting reorganization dubbed “Avianca 2021” before this year’s crisis.Roberto Kriete, president of Avianca’s board, said last year in a meeting with employees that the airline was “broke.
Avianca has no certain date to resume operations, as its main hubs – Colombia, El Salvador and Peru – have all shut down air traffic to fight the coronavirus.