LATAM Airlines and Avianca Holdings survived the Great Depression, but just a few weeks of quarantines forced both companies into bankruptcy, marking Latin America as the world's top spot for airline financial ruin.
Hopes for a taxpayer rescue in the region are fading fast and the bankruptcies show that even Latin America’s two largest carriers are not immune to collapse, even as many airlines in the United States and Europe have received government aid.
“The air travel sector will not survive without government help,” Jerome Cadier, LATAM’s Brazil CEO, told Reuters. Still, it has long been viewed as a region of great potential, enough so to tempt Delta and United into spending mightily to unseat American Airlines as the top U.S. carrier for travel to Latin America.Delta bought 20% of LATAM in December while United struck a partnership with Avianca in 2018, but only after agreeing to finance the personal business interests of its Bolivian-born owner.
Partly due to LATAM’s size, analysts say, the company’s shares did not fall as much in the leadup to the bankruptcy as those of its peers. Combined, LATAM and Avianca still employ over 60,000 people, although most of them are either earning half their usual paycheck or none at all.On Monday, LATAM’s board sat for its 10th emergency meeting since April to formalize the bankruptcy decision.Earlier this week, Raymond James analysts still had an “outperform” rating on the stock, predicting LATAM’s shares would double and calling its debt “manageable.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Virus could push 14 million into hunger in Latin America - UNSigns of mounting hunger are already being felt around the region, where desperate citizens are violating quarantines to go out in search of money and food and hanging red and white flags from their homes in a cry for aid.
Read more »
UN: Virus could push 14 million into hunger in Latin AmericaThe U.N. World Food Program warns that upward of at least 14 million people could go hungry in Latin America as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, shuttering people in their homes, drying up work and crippling the economy.
Read more »
Latin America is now the 'epicenter of the outbreak,' says health officialLatin America has surpassed Europe and the US in the daily number of reported Covid-19 infections, according to the director of the Pan American Health Organization. The region 'has become the epicenter of the Covid pandemic,' Dr. Carissa Etienne said.
Read more »
ASCAP Moves Its 2020 Awards Shows Online: Pop, Screen, Latin, Rhythm & SoulThe American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) today announced it will honor the songwriters and publishers behind its most performed songs of the past year with four virtual cel…
Read more »