Brazil: ITA airline cannot get rid of the controversy

The airline belonging to the Itapemirim Group made its maiden flight on June 29, 2021, thus becoming a new option in the largest commercial aviation market in South America. According to our media partner in Brazil, Aeroin, during the first month of operations, ITA flights had an average load factor of 62% and a punctuality rate of 77%. The company see its future with optimism as vaccination rates increases and go ahead with its plan to incorporate more aircraft to the fleet (now of 4 A320 and 7 more on its way).

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But beyond the reasonable numbers and the positive projections that the company may have for its positioning in the Brazilian domestic market, ITA is surrounded by a halo of mistrust generated from the judicial reorganization process in which the Itapemirim Group has been in since 2016.

At the same time that the management of the new owner, the businessman Sidnei Piva de Jesus, began, the group started a judicial process to avoid bankruptcy and respond financially to its creditors, since with the sale of part of its assets it could face the debts. But the alarms went off in 2019 when the Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos project saw the light after obtaining the certification of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) to operate.

ITA’s network reaches São Paulo (Guarulhos), Rio de Janeiro (Galeão), Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Maceió, Natal, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Recife and Salvador.

One of the conditions of the judicial reorganization process in which the group is involved foresees that 80% of the auction proceeds be used to pay off debts with creditors. However, some plaintiffs denounce that this is not being fulfilled, especially with the new project of forming an airline with ambitious objectives and, therefore, a large investment. In fact, in recent months there was some controversy over the diversion of 29 million reais to ITA (about USD 5.5 million), which had been obtained from the sale of assets. Finally, justice authorized the transaction.

Between August 18 and September 1, a new auction of the group’s assets will be open, this time buses, which will continue to generate income to address pending debts and / or inject money into other business units such as ITA.

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As if that were not enough, the financial problems faced by the conglomerate are compounded by the somehow unhappy role of the new owner of the group in this complex scenario. Sidnei Piva de Jesus has been accused by the Cola family, founder of the group, for the alleged existence of several CPFs (Registry of Physical Person, by its acronym in Portuguese, a sort of federal ID) associated with his name. In fact, there is currently an ongoing investigation into this topic.

It seems that, for the moment, ITA’s growth in Brazil is contingent on the sale of assets of the Itapemirim Group. If it were, given the complexity of its situation due to being in the middle of a judicial reorganization process, it could face great obstacles to expand. However, the company assured to our media partner that it was up to date with the payment to its creditors, which could give it some freedom to dispose of the funds generated by the group.