Ministry of Justice evaluates prosecuting Itapemirim

The Ministry of Justice received late this Wednesday afternoon (22) an improvement plan sent by the ITA (Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos), a company whose operation was suspended on Friday (17), and must analyze the information to decide whether or not to enter with an administrative proceeding against the company.

The airline had 24 hours to send to Senacon (National Consumer Secretary), an agency linked to the folder, an effective proposal to serve injured customers. Now, the secretariat’s technical area analyzes the requirements to initiate a process, which could generate a fine.

The company has had three meetings with Senacon since October and sent a different person to each of them, according to Lilian Brandão, director of the Consumer Protection and Defense Department.

“The company did not officiate to Senacon beforehand about the situation. We had three meetings and there was no indication that this would happen,” he says.

The meetings were requested by the folder, which had detected an increase in customer complaints about flight delays and cancellations. The company started operating in June, selling tickets cheaper than the competition.

“We gave a vote of confidence, but we were already worried”, says Brandão.

São Paulo’s Procon states that 133,000 passengers —considering round trips in the period from December 17th to February 17th— were affected by the problem. In previous communications, ITA was handling a number of 46,000 passengers.

The company says it served 25,000 people with re-accommodation or reimbursement in the first two working days.

Procon also stated that it will fine ITA for the abrupt suspension of services and disrespect to customers. The value can reach R$ 11 million.

The institution also defended that, “in view of the gravity of the situation, the company must give an immediate solution to the passengers — whether the relocation on another flight or the return of values”.

Senacon and Procon may apply fines concurrently.

To get around the crisis, the company has been offering bus tickets and says it prioritizes accommodation at other companies for passengers in transit who need to return home. Even so, customers slept at the airport because they couldn’t get back on Tuesday, as reported by the leaf.

The Itapemirim group filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016. It opened in the airline industry during one of the toughest aviation crises, when trips were canceled due to the pandemic.

Upon launching the operation, he stated that he would have resources from investment funds based on the achievement of goals. It does not reveal which funds. The estimated value was US$ 500 million (R$ 2.8 billion). The company promises to return to operations in February.