United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said yesterday that he was “not concerned” the bankruptcy filing of Avianca Brasil would hurt the No. 3 U.S. carrier’s joint venture with related airline Colombia’s Avianca Holdings, Reuters reported. Avianca Brasil, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday after being sued for repossession of its jets, is owned by holding company Synergy Group, which also controls the better-known Avianca Holdings. As part of a planned joint venture to give it a deeper foothold in Latin America, United extended a $456 million loan to Synergy last month, backed by Avianca common stock that can be executed in the event of a default. Munoz said the loan was “very exacting” in terms of how it had been structured and that Avianca Colombia had no connection to its Brazilian counterpart other than a common shareholder.
