Bolivia Airline Sitting at Pit´s Brink of Bankruptcy

Bolivian airline Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) is “on the verge of bankruptcy,” its president said, as a worsening financial and labor crisis left the airline threatening Monday to cancel national and international flights again.

In a television announcement Sunday night, Ernesto Asbun also called on workers to halt recent strikes, warning that if the situation did not reverse itself quickly, LAB, which has some 1,500 employees, would be forced to cease flights to Madrid, Miami and Washington.

The woes of LAB, just-under-half-owned by Bolivian public entities, began in February when its pilots and other workers walked off the job, demanding back wages as well as payment of the carrier´s debt to the public pension system.

The Bolivian government intervened in the management of LAB several weeks ago, ending that strike. But new walkouts resumed last week after the Constitutional Court declared the intervention illegal and Asbun returned to the helm.