Gol Linhas Aéreas (GOLL4.SA), on Monday received permission from a US court to investigate LATAM Airlines' alleged effort to seize Gol's Boeing.
Gol accused Chile-based LATAM of taking advantage of Gol's bankruptcy by trying to take its aircraft, hire its pilots and discourage travel agents from booking customer flights with Gol.
At a hearing in Manhattan, Gol lawyer Andrew Leblanc told US Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn that the company needs to investigate whether LATAM's tactics violated US bankruptcy law.
“We feel we are under attack from a competitor in our market, a very concerted attack,” said Leblanc.
Glenn ordered LATAM to provide documents to Gol and make three of its executives available for interviews with Gol's lawyers to explain its recent effort to acquire more aircraft from companies that currently lease their planes to Gol.
The judge said it was “absurd” to believe that it was a mere coincidence that LATAM began its action the day after Gol filed for bankruptcy.
LATAM lawyer Kyle Ortiz acknowledged that a Jan. 26 letter sent to aircraft owners was “not a mere coincidence” and was the first time in recent years that LATAM had attempted to acquire Boeing 737 and 737 Max aircraft. But he said that the company was not only motivated by Gol's bankruptcy, and was simply trying to acquire planes from large companies that lease aircraft to Gol, LATAM and other airlines.
“We need planes,” Ortiz said. “If we’re looking for 737s, that’s where we have to go.”
Glenn did not approve Gol's request to investigate a recent LATAM job ment seeking Boeing-qualified pilots in Brazil, saying there was no evidence that LATAM specifically ed Gol pilots.
Gol's lawyer said the company may return to court later to investigate LATAM's communications with travel agents, but did not ask Glenn to authorize a formal investigation on Monday.
Gol filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on January 25.
Gol said it has struggled with the persistent impact of the COVID pandemic and has had difficulty acquiring enough Boeing 737 Max aircraft to meet the surge in post-pandemic demand.
Boeing's production of the aircraft has been hampered by a series of crises in recent years, including a pause in production in 2020 that followed two fatal crashes and a recent mid-flight defect in which a enger plane's side exploded.
With Reuters
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