Avianca Brazil undergoing 'one of the most difficult chapters' in its history: CEO

Avianca Brazil CEO Frederico Pedreira, via his personal LinkedIn account, described (16-Jan-2019) the current state of Avianca Brazil as "one of the most difficult chapters in the history of Avianca Brazil and obviously my career". He cited the strengthening of the USD, the increase in aviation fuel prices and the truck drivers protest as challenges in 2018, forcing the company to "stop and review our plan for the year and a fundamental part of the plan was the renegotiation of our aircraft leasing contracts. Unfortunately we faced difficulties in this process". Mr Pedreira added that the judicial recovery process has the aim of "protecting our operation and our passengers". As previously reported by CAPA, the carrier ensured guardianship of aircraft under the repossession process, until the end of Jan-2019.