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A document presented in New York as part of the supports for Avianca to be accepted within the United States Bankruptcy Law allowed to uncover the annual bonus that several company executives received between May and June 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, while the planes were on the ground. At the time the airline declared bankruptcy.
The executives would have negotiated these bonuses as part of payment when they accepted the new positions in Avianca, starting with Anko David Van Der Werff, who replaced Hernán Rincón in the presidency. A good part of the executives who surround the Dutchman arrived with him and the compensation to remove the previous ones was also expensive for the airline that continues to face serious economic difficulties due to the pandemic. The investigation and the complaint were carried out by the Investigative Journalism Agency-API, which reveals that the annual bonuses that at least 7 airline executives received between March and June 2020, amount to USD 7 million. The information revealed after the study of case 29-11133 of Avianca Holdings SA with which the company in a United States Court requested to file on May 10, 2020, Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to carry out an internal restructuring .
Avianca’s operation continues to fail to normalize. Employees and pilots have seen their income affected and the credit of USD 370 million is still uncertain that months ago the same Avianca executives argued to the government of Iván Duque that this “would be the only opportunity the airline has to survive COVID-19 now its effects after the cessation of commercial activities for 6 months ”.
A month before receiving the millionaire bonus, on April 6, the pandemic just entered Colombia, in the office of the Vice Ministry of Labor Relations of MinTrabajo, the airline filed a request to suspend 347 work contracts arguing reasons of force majeure “given that the actions to mitigate its effects must find an immediate response that allows to counteract the harmful consequences with the lowest human cost ”. In addition, at least 3,400 employees have had to reduce their salary and dismiss the labor benefits plan, with which many have aspired to become part of Avianca. On the other hand, as a contingency measure, many pilots have had to take unpaid licenses extended for 6 months, and some for up to 1 year.
Among the figures stands out the bonus of the Chilean Adrian Neuhauser Berlin, who has been the Chief Financial Officer since mid-2019 and who received a bonus of US $ 2,783,272 dollars, a little more than $ 10,000 million Colombian pesos, on June 5 and another for S $ 1,213,134, equivalent to another $ 5 billion in mid-March.
The Dutch Anko David Van Der Werff, who has replaced Hernán Rincón as CEO since June 2019, took the largest bonus: on June 5, 2020, he received a bonus for US $ 3,732,494, that is, around $ 13,425 million.
Renato Covelo Frutos and Silvia Mosqueta González, Vice President of Legal Affairs and Vice President Commercial respectively, also received bonuses. He received $ 128,000 and hers received $ 286,000.
For their part, the airline’s vice president of Planning and Strategy, Michael Anthony Swiatek and the president of information received a bonus for US $ 112,000 in the middle of the pandemic.
Last Wednesday, September 16, the airline insisted, through a press release that in case of not receiving the government loan for 370 million dollars, the connectivity of Colombia is put at risk because the operation of Avianca would be seen affected to such an extent that the company would face an unviable future.
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