Facing financial meltdown, domestic low-cost carrier Interjet is offering a rapid Covid-19 self-detection kit and N95 masks certified by the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Copefris), among other measures.
Interjet has been one of Mexico’s hardest hit airlines due to the pandemic. The airline claims not to have laid off any employees, although most staff have taken a 50-percent pay cut and some have been furloughed.
According to a report by Daniel Martínez on simplefying.com, Interjet employees are threatening to go on strike, saying they have not been paid for several months. Many recently joined in a protest at the Mexico City airport, he added.
In July, Interjet received a capital injection of US$150 million to help the airline carry out a major restructuring plan. Chief among Interjet’s problems, says simplefying.com, is that the airline owes Mexican tax authorities around $US130 million, among other debts.
In addition, customer complaints are rampant, says the simplefying.com contributor, because the carrier “often cancels their flights, gives (passengers) a voucher but, when they try to redeem it, the coupon is worth only a fraction of the flight, meaning they have to pay more to get to their destination.”