American to Halt Bolivia Flights

[FA Mikey]

American Airlines and Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA temporarily suspended service to Bolivia on Wednesday because of an internal conflict among government aviation agencies, officials said.

American said it will halt flights in the country until Friday, said Drago Komadina, a manager for American Airlines in Bolivia.

story here

 

[FWAAA]

From the article:

Since Oct. 11, the agency has required airlines to pay in cash airport duties ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 at Viru Viru.

Airlines have protested the new policy, and said officials are demanding payments be routed to private bank accounts instead of public fiscal accounts, as is customary.

That's a hefty bribe. Do the pilots have that kind of cash in their pockets when they go to Bolivia? Raid the alcohol sales proceeds? Take up a collection from the passengers? Is there a secret cash stash kept on the flight deck for such "emergencies?"

 

[eolesen]

Not on the flight deck, but.....

<insert sound of crickets>

 

[FWAAA]

Not on the flight deck, but.....

<insert sound of crickets>

So it's in that overhead bin marked "pillows and blankets - Crew use only" I'm checking there on my next flight tomorrow! Look everybody - there's cash in this bin!

 

[eolesen]

Thirdhand, when AA965 went down in Columbia back in '95, obtaining military assistance in getting to the crash site came with a cash-up-front requirement....

 

[mga707]

...guess Evo the coca farmer's trip to the U.N. and the "Daily Show" bankrupted the treasury! <_<

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

From the BBC: Bolivia airport row turns violent

Bolivian security forces have taken control of the nation's busiest airport as a dispute over landing fees takes on a wider political significance.

BBC link

 

[The Goose]

American Airlines and Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA temporarily suspended service to Bolivia on Wednesday because of an internal conflict among government aviation agencies, officials said.

American said it will halt flights in the country until Friday, said Drago Komadina, a manager for American Airlines in Bolivia.

story here

If all airlines simply ended service to Bolivia, this would stop in short order, but that would never happen - some airline would move in immediately; the closest analogy to this corporate mindset being union scabs.

 

[eolesen]

Perhaps, but LPB and VVI aren't exactly thriving markets for anything like tourism or commerce.... Neither market has been able to sustain nonstop service for as long as I can recall, so AA's routing has always been a round-robin operating MIA-LPB-VVI-MIA or the reverse.

 

[MAH4546]

Perhaps, but LPB and VVI aren't exactly thriving markets for anything like tourism or commerce.... Neither market has been able to sustain nonstop service for as long as I can recall, so AA's routing has always been a round-robin operating MIA-LPB-VVI-MIA or the reverse.

A fully loaded 757 cannot take off from La Paz with enough fuel to land in Miami due to LPB's alttitude. If the plane never stopped in Santa Cruz, or somewhere else, the plane would never it make to Miami. Starting in December, though, there will be a daily MIA-LPB-VVI-MIA and a 3x weekly MIA-VVI-MIA.

Bolivia is one of the highest yielding routes in AA's entire international network thanks to so little compieition. No other US airlines fly to Bolivia, and AeroSur is the only Bolivian airline flying to the U.S. right now (LAB's flying license is suspended). Poor countries - like Bolivia and Paraguay - traditionally bring in the strongest yields.