Sept. 4 (UPI) — Argentine budget airline Flybondi, which ceased flight operations Aug. 6 amid a financial and labor crisis, has begun to move some employees to an affiliated company as it considers a smaller operation and a possible relaunch under the OCA Air Brand.
The restructuring began Monday with ground-handling personnel, according to industry outlet Aviacionline, which cited sources close to the company.
The employees would move from Flybondi’s legal operator, FB Líneas Aéreas, to OC Support S.A., a company associated with the OCA logistics brand. Aviacionline initially reported that workers at the airline’s operations control center also signed transfer agreements but later corrected the report to say they had not yet done so.
More than 200 current employees had been notified about the proposed transfers by Thursday, although many had not signed the agreements, Noticias Argentinas reported, citing union sources.
Aviation unions warned that the arrangement could amount to labor outsourcing and asked Argentina’s Labor Secretariat to supervise the process. The proposed individual agreements are intended to preserve workers’ seniority and employment conditions under the new corporate structure.
The employees involved in the transfer are not among the more than 700 workers who were dismissed or accepted voluntary departures this year. Former employees say the airline has not paid promised severance, while workers who remain on Flybondi’s payroll have reported unpaid wages and the loss of employer-provided health coverage, according to Argentine fact-checking outlet Chequeado.
Flybondi is expected to return most of its leased aircraft and retain three Boeing 737s for a limited operation, Aviación News reported. Final aircraft assignments remain unconfirmed.
Aviacionline reported that the carrier would need to operate flights under the Flybondi name before Sept. 20 to keep its air operator certificate valid.
Argentina’s National Civil Aviation Administration has not publicly confirmed the deadline or the broader restructuring plan.
The airline’s website previously listed a reduced schedule beginning Sept. 10 with service between Buenos Aires and Mendoza, followed by flights to Bariloche and Puerto Iguazú. The company has not disclosed whether it has the aircraft, maintenance agreements or personnel needed to operate those flights.
Before the crisis, Flybondi operated from Buenos Aires’ Aeroparque and Ezeiza airports and from Córdoba, connecting passengers with major Argentine destinations including Bariloche, Mendoza, Puerto Iguazú, Salta, Ushuaia, El Calafate, Neuquén and Jujuy. It also served routes to Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.
Promotional one-way domestic fares generally started at about $17 to $40, while regional tickets were advertised from about $90. The lowest fares typically excluded checked baggage, seat selection and other services.
Flybondi also faces judicial freezes on its bank accounts over more than 1.4 billion Argentine pesos, or about $915,000, in tax debt, bankruptcy petitions from suppliers and hundreds of labor claims.
The airline canceled 80.5% of its scheduled flights during the first half of August, Chequeado reported. Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency also suspended Flybondi from selling new tickets after the airline canceled 79% of its flights in the country during July, according to the Brazilian regulator.
