Latin America’s largest airline is living a dystopia with the number of lawsuits it receives, the vast majority of which come from Brazil.
The judicialization of the airline industry is a constant debate in Brazil, the country with the highest number of lawsuits against airlines, a practice that is repeated in other economic sectors. For Jerome Cadier, CEO of LATAM Brazil, this is one of the problems that hinders the growth of the Brazilian airline industry and generates an «unreasonable» cost.
In an interview with Neofeed reported by our Brazilian partner Aeroin, Cadier cites several regulatory challenges, including fuel taxes and baggage fees, but elaborates on the issue of litigation.
«Ninety-eight per cent of the group’s litigation is in Brazil, which accounts for 55 per cent of the group’s operations. The number of lawyers we must have, the number of lawsuits in court, the amount of compensation paid, especially to consumers for unfounded claims, is awfully expensive,» says the Cadier.
He cites the case of the private jet that almost ran off the runway at Congonhas and paralysed the airport for the whole day, generating huge operational losses, which have already been the subject of a complaint by Jerome Cadier.
«A passenger goes to court against the airline and the judge makes him win the case, awarding compensation for moral damages for the passenger, from R$ 5,000 to R$ 10,000, due to this flight cancellation, which was not even Latam’s responsibility. This kind of thing makes us have an absurd cost here in Brazil», concluded the CEO.
Despite the criticism, which is not exclusive to LATAM’s CEO, unless there are changes in the law, in the understanding of judges and in jurisprudence, this scenario will not change.
