Venezuela failing to keep promises on airlines revenues

[Marksman_91]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/29/venezuela-airlines-idUSL6N0NL2Y820140429

Venezuela should urgently release $3.9 billion owed to airlines over ticket sales, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday, saying the government was not keeping to promises to offer fair exchange rates.

The South American nation requires airlines to bill tickets in its bolivar currency and for close to two years the state currency board has denied airline requests to convert ticket sales revenues into hard currency and repatriate the funds.

The Venezuela government said at the end of March that it would allow foreign airlines to repatriate the money, using the exchange rate in place at the time the fares were sold.

"Since then there has been very little progress," IATA Chief Executive Tony Tyler said in a statement. "The situation is unacceptable."

Yet another wonderful achievement of the Chavista-Madurista regime. Of course, the chavistas in this forum are gonna say "Screw the IATA! Obviously they work for the CIA! There's no WAY the glorious Venezuelan regime could be this irresponsible."

In case anyone doesn't find Reuters to be reliable, take a look at what the IATA says in its own website: https://www.iata.org/publications/ceo-brief/apr-2014/Pages/venezuela-blocked-funds.aspx

[COLGATE4]

1. Nobody could have

seen THAT coming! (Sarcasm thingy omitted as superfluous)

[MADem]

2. How to get to VZ? Go in by road? Slow boat? Fly into another country and take a hop?

He frigging PROMISED he'd pay up -- apparently The Fearless "Rule By Decree" Leader is not a man of his word.

How (not) surprising. He was just kicking the can down the road.

[Bacchus4.0]

3. best to just avoid it really, its a disaster n/t

[MADem]

4. I've got friends in PR with an elderly grandma in VZ.

She doesn't like to fly; they have to go to her. They visit on the phone a lot, but, ya know...

Just a bummer that it's always so damn difficult.

[Bacchus4.0]

5. thats just an hour flight too. That sucks. Did they reduce the flights from SJ to Caracas? n/t

[MADem]

6. They haven't been back in a year, and don't intend to until the situation normalizes.

They skype. I guess there's a brother and a sister there who can look after the old lady, but the children don't know their abuelita except on a screen.

They aren't rich, either--they're barely middle class these days. The father is now working as an air conditioner repairman in PR (he did something with accounting in VZ, but unemployment is pretty sucky in PR too). He was lucky to get the job, he acquired the skill working his way through college, ironically--so now in his old age he's using his "college tuition job" to put food on the table. The son is going to public university in PR and works as a waiter. It's a rough road.

Not sure about the flights but I can't imagine anyone keeping up with it unless the tickets are purchased round trip in PR--cash on the barrel, since Maduro won't remit those airline fees.