Is teetering Interjet set to become the next airline casualty of the pandemic?
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Another airline may soon succumb to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outlook for Mexican low-cost airline Interjet is bleak as the carrier canceled most of its flights for the third day and its website remained offline. The Mexican government is now warning passengers about the risk of doing business with the airline, according to Mexican media reports.
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Interjet canceled all of its flights on Sunday and Monday, citing liquidity and aircraft issues. The airline called it “a restructuring of its itineraries,” The Associated Press reported.
More specifically, Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), the Mexican State company that manages the country’s airport, claims that Interjet failed to meet payments on jet fuel, and thus stopped receiving fuel for its planes, according to Reuters. The airline added in a statement that “additionally, some of the company’s aircraft have gone into maintenance.”
Related: What you can do when your airline goes belly up
A few flights have resumed Tuesday, but many remain grounded. Perhaps even more concerning is that the airline’s website and reservations line have been offline throughout the day. No updates have been shared on the airline’s social media channels since Sunday (Nov. 1).
Earlier Tuesday, Ricardo Sheffield, director of Mexico’s Bureau of Consumers’ Protection (PROFECO), warned that the airline was at the brink of bankruptcy and that there is high risk of doing business with the airline. Thousands of passengers have already been left stranded due to these cancellations.
Related: Airlines expect a post-coronavirus boom in leisure travel, they just don’t know when
Bottom line
Interjet has been struggling financially for several years now and the drought in demand for air travel caused by the pandemic has only only brought more trouble for the airline. If you have any upcoming travel booked on the airline, make sure to keep an eye on the news.
The collapse of the airline would also mean goodbye to the only Russian-made jet in commercial service in North America — the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
Featured image by Alberto Riva/The Points Guy.
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