Avianca Holdings is negotiating the permanent retirement of its entire ATR-72 fleet and could become an airline that operates only jet aircraft.
The possible retirement of these regional turboprops goes hand in hand with the idea of simplifying the company’s operations during the reorganization process through Chapter 11 that is currently taking place in the US courts.
At the moment, the Latin American commercial aviation consortium established in Panama, Avianca Holdings, has 11 aircraft of this model with capacity for 68 passengers, of which 9 serve in Colombia for Avianca Express and another 2 for Avianca Guatemala.
According to data provided by our partner Aeroin based on a CH-Aviation report, the company operated with 29 ATR-type aircraft but 9 of them went out of service in 2019 and only 20 remained. In the case of completing the whole retirement of these turboprop aircraft, the company together with its subsidiaries would operate only jets.
What worries the company today is the impact that this recovery process could generate because the passenger aircraft would go from 140 to 100, which could cause a reduction in the work team. In parallel to this, Avianca is working to close several agreements with the corresponding unions.
Regarding finances, the company had recorded losses of USD 2 billion last year, but estimates to generate more than USD 500 million in annual savings and reduce the unit passenger cost (CASK), excluding fuel, by 38% compared to 2019.
Although Avianca Holdings has not yet granted an exit date for the restructuring subject to Chapter 11, it is estimated that it will be for this year.
