Colombia: Authorities don’t cede to Viva – Avianca merger pressure and demand answers for passengers
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The morning after the cessation of operations of Viva passes between the chaos suffered by passengers affected by the abrupt closure of the company and the pressures to force Aerocivil to approve the integration with Avianca, which is presented as the only viable alternative to continue the operation.
However, Colombian authorities remain firm on procedural timelines and made it clear that they will not yield to pressure for an early resolution, while demanding that Viva respond to passengers affected by the cancellations.
The Ministry of Transportation issued a statement in which it urges Viva to guarantee «the rights of users» and announced that it has provided personnel to carry out «accompaniment» tasks to find instances of «dialogue and coordination» with the airlines operating in the affected destinations.
Aerocivil won’t allow itself to be pressured by Viva
The Colombian aeronautical authority maintains the process times of the integration request submitted by the two companies: in a statement issued in the early hours of February 28, the agency ratified that it is appropriate to accept LATAM Colombia, Wingo, Ultra Air, Aerolíneas Argentinas and JetSMART as «interested third parties», who submitted objections and consultations to Viva and Avianca to clarify what would be the concessions that the integrated company would grant in order to ensure a competitive scenario.
The process is going back and forth, and the response from Viva and Avianca must now be sent to the third parties. As long as this process continues, the integration request will not be resolved.
Aerocivil is clear in its communiqué: it does not consider media pressures or press releases from companies seeking to accelerate the process as appropriate. «Neither press releases nor publications on social networks are part of the file.»
What remains to be answered now is whether Viva will exist as a company by the time the case is resolved, and whether Avianca will eventually seek to integrate with it, because depending on how the story ends, it may not even be convenient.
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