The filing will not affect reservations, employee pay, and flight vouchers, according to the airline. Passenger and cargo operations will also continue as normal.
โThe US Chapter 11 financial reorganization process provides a clear and guided opportunity to work with our creditors and other stakeholders to reduce our debt, address commercial challenges that we, like others in our industry, are facing as a group,โ LATAM’s statement said. โIt is very different from the concept of bankruptcy in other countries and is notโฏa liquidation proceeding.โ
LATAM Chief Executive Officer, Roberto Alvo, cited COVID-related travel restrictions as a main driver for the decision to file for bankruptcy.
โWe have implemented a series of difficult measures to mitigate the impact of this unprecedented industry disruption, but ultimately this path represents the best option,โ said Alvo.
โWe are looking ahead to a post-COVID future and are focused on transforming our group to adapt to a new and evolving way of flying, with the health and safety of our passengers and employees being paramount,โ he added.
The voluntary reorganization will include LATAMโs affiliates in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and the United States. The airline, however, will continue to fly while it is in bankruptcy protection and its affiliates in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay were not included in the filing.
The airline operated more than 1,300 flights a day and transported 74 million passengers last year. It had more than 340 planes in its fleet and nearly 42,000 employees on its payroll, according to its most recent annual company report.
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