Latam Colombia CEO, Santiago Álvarez Matamoros,through a recorded video, announced that the carrier will temporarily suspend employment contracts until the carrier resumes operations.
“Today is a very difficult day for me, as the leader of this company. After making all possible efforts and enduring expenses for three months without receiving incomes, we have been forced to temporarily suspend the employment contracts of LATAM Colombia,” Santiago Álvarez said.
According to Santiago, the decision is made due to the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken more time than originally anticipated to resume operations and the uncertainty of not knowing when the airline will return to the skies. Santiago Álvarez also clarified that once the government authorizes restart operations, they will gradually call-in the workers they need.
“Despite the measures implemented during these three months, the current situation leads us to the painful decision to temporarily suspend the employment contracts of LATAM Airlines Colombia from June 16, 2020, under the provisions of the Substantive Labor Code in number 1 of article 51.”
“I take this opportunity to thank the effort made until today and tell you that I will continue to work hard to seek the reopening of the sector and internally with our suppliers and union organizations to find ways that allow us to prepare for the future and guarantee the continuity of the company in the market.”
He also highlighted the efforts made by the airline employees and the work made by the group with the implementation of different initiatives to protect the Colombian company.
It is important to remember that LATAM Airlines Group decided this May 15, to lay off 1,400 workers from its branches in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Then, on May 26, the group filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. After that, LATAM Airlines group announced the closure of LATAM Argentina, and finally, LATAM Colombia announced that it will temporarily suspend employment contracts.
This news show that the COVID-19 impact in the aviation industry is real. LATAM Airlines Group CEO, Roberto Alvo, declared the past June 5, that, “Unfortunately I cannot promise that we will not continue to shrink the company. We are forced to resize ourselves because the aviation industry is going to be smaller for a long time. The industry is going to take three to four years to recover again, many people are going to postpone their trips.