Shareholders of Mexico’s Interjet approve bankruptcy

Shareholders in Interjet (AIJ, Toluca) have reached an agreement for the company to enter commercial bankruptcy under Mexican law with the aim of carrying out “an orderly restructuring process,” which will then allow it to attract investors, the airline said in a statement on April 26. At an extraordinary general meeting, “100% of Interjet shareholders have reached an agreement to enter bankruptcy” and they “approved that work will start aimed at rescuing the company” with the objective of “returning to the operations of the company as soon as possible, giving priority to the rights of the workers,” the statement claimed. “With these actions, Interjet will give the certainty of an orderly restructuring process that will allow the attraction of new investors,” it added. The unanimous vote of the shareholders – including Alejandro del Valle, who took a 90% stake in the carrier in early December 2020 – would enable the troubled airline, which suspended flight operations on December 11, to resume payments to employees that have been frozen in most cases since September 2020. Talks with creditors would take place in the coming months. Airlines in Mexico have not received government aid, and Interjet is the second to file for bankruptcy protection since the start of the coronavirus pandemic after Grupo Aeroméxico filed in June. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the carrier owns a fleet of twenty-one SSJ 100/95Bs, and company spokesman Carlos del Valle del Río told Forbes Mexico in March that Interjet was in talks to sell the 21 aircraft to Cuba. The airline, whose website interjet.com.mx is no longer operational, filed on April 23 for an injunction to further delay payments to employees, local media reported. It currently owes about USD1.2 billion, according to the newspaper El Financiero, but plans to negotiate with suppliers in the courts to adjust its leverage.