Last Saturday, May 13, Avianca drop the integration with Viva Air to save the airline financially, and to be able to help the passengers who were affected by the crisis that the company saw a few weeks ago.
(It may be of interest to you: Aerocivil responds to Avianca after giving up integration with Viva Air).
We wanted Viva to be a sustainable company, one that can pay its bills, that works, operates, and can provide the connectivity that it did before.
Adrian Neuhauser, CEO of Avianca, responded this Monday to Aerocivil in a dialogue with snail radio, where he expressed that the conditions imposed by the entity were ‘unfeasible’ sustainably.
“The conditions that Aerovicil poses to us fail to meet any of these conditions, they can’t make it self-financed, they can’t make the routes that operated previously operate, they can’t meet the obligations with the passengers (…) We had numerous meetings with Aerocivil, where we talked about what we needed, we wanted viva to be a sustainable company, that it can pay its bills, that it works, operates and can give the connectivity that it previously gave, fulfilling the commitments of the passengers”, he highlights.
Neuhauser points out that the Aerocivil announcement It was a subject that took them by surprise and described it as ‘regrettable’, because despite the various meetings in recent weeks, the conditions to carry out the merger were not achieved.
Adrian Neuhauser, CEO of Avianca
Commitments to hire Viva Air personnel
The president of Avianca affirmed that make a plan to help people who were affected by the Viva crisis and reiterated the airline’s willingness to open new jobs cover some of the routes that stopped operating and ‘shake hands’ with passengers who ‘remained on the ground’.
We have put more than 70 special flights at our expense.
“Around 180,000 passengers have been rescued by the system, we have rescued more than 95% and we want to continue providing solutions. We have put more than 70 special flights at our expense. The vocation is to continue providing connectivity and for that we need to bring planes, hire employees and We are going to make a preferential plan for those who are losing their jobs at Viva“, he claimed.
On the other hand, Neuhauser said that relations with the government are good, despite the tense negotiations with Aerocivil and the “erroneous” statement issued. “Relations with the government are fine, with Aerovicil they are technical, because They issued a ruling that I believed was wrong. What we are looking for is that the backstage in the distribution of slotsthat is what we are going to monitor”.
Viva’s planes will remain parked at the Rionegro airport.
Jaiver Nieto / EL TIEMPO
They played a perverse role because they declared themselves saviors of the competition (…) They only focused on leaving Viva on the ground.
For the president of Avianca, some airlines in the country had a great responsibility in the disintegration of Viva Air, because they acted incorrectly. “They played a perverse role because they declared themselves saviors of the competition, ignored the needs of passengers, employment, connectivity, They only focused on leaving Viva on the ground and taking away its capacity. The competition has taken away planes, routes and employees; They tried to make the small sea live. JetSmart and Latam They said that they were going to make an offer for Viva months ago and announced that they were going to do it and as the days went by they announced that they had given up.
(Read here: Jetsmart asks that the country’s air market maintain free competition and quality).
On the other hand, the director of the airline pointed out that the company is trying to replace most of the routes left by Viva Air, which are close to a dozen, and they invited the other airlines to enter to compete and not leave passengers ‘stranded’ who are being affected by the situation.
The company has a fleet of 189 aircraft, more than 19,000 collaborators, 108 destinations in 26 countries in America and Europe.
Adrián Neuhauser reiterated Avianca’s commitment to maintain healthy competition in the market, have fair prices that allow all airlines to compete fairly for the good of users.
“We have worked very judiciously to ensure that prices do not skyrocket in the absence of competition, we have capped market rates and maintained prices at historically competitive levels. We are in a different moment from 5 years ago with high inflation reaching double digits, a devalued currency, oil that remains high. Today, the price level needed to pay the costs is much higher.“said the manager.
Finally, the CEO of Avianca demanded that the air authorities follow up on all the airlines so that some conditions are met, such as having the capital to carry out the operation in the country, achieving a sustainable business and being financially sound.
HAROLDYES
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