Colombian government will denounce Viva Air executives for swindling
The Colombian government announced on Wednesday that it will denounce for fraud the directors of the airline Viva Air, which on February 27 suspended its operations due to a financial crisis, leaving thousands of passengers on the ground and without flight alternatives.
The Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, said on Colombia Today Radio, a government radio program, that he will file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office against the managers of the low-cost airline because they sold tickets until the last minute, knowing that the company was going to stop operating.
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“We are putting our face as the Government of Change for our passengers, for our users, for our travel agencies, for our defense of air transportation,” Reyes assured.
Viva Air, created in 2009, is facing a serious financial crisis and decided to suspend its domestic and international flights after the authorities rejected its request to integrate with Avianca, causing an air crisis that spread to other countries, especially Peru.
This decision left thousands of people at the airports and although many of them were able to fly in the following days thanks to arrangements with other airlines, many travelers reported that even minutes before suspending operations, Viva was still selling tickets on its web page.
According to local media, there are approximately one million Viva tickets sold, both domestic and international, whose buyers are demanding solutions from the airline.
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The minister also referred to the labor situation of Viva Air workers and explained that the company has the resources to make the liquidation of all employees and that other airlines have hired some of them, a process accompanied by the Ministry of Labor.
Last March 1, three days after the airline ceased operations, the Colombian Superintendence of Transportation opened an administrative investigation and filed charges against Viva Air for the “alleged breach” of the law “due to the sudden suspension of its operations affecting users who already had issued and confirmed reservations”.
Reyes also referred to a possible suspension of operations of Ultra Air, another Colombian low-cost airline, denied yesterday by the company itself, and assured that the Government is monitoring its operations.
“We, with the Superintendence of Transportation, are obtaining all the information on the state of balance sheets of liabilities and assets” to warn, if necessary, passengers, he said.
With information from EFE
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