Brazil air force ordered to fly stranded travelers
Source: Reuters
(Recasts, adds quotes) SAO PAULO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's government on Friday ordered air force planes to ferry civilians and the country's largest airline to halt additional ticket sales in an effort to ease nationwide air travel chaos just days before Christmas. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took the unusual step of calling out military aircraft after TAM Linhas Aereas <TAMM4.SA><TAM.N> abruptly grounded six planes for maintenance, causing widespread delays and stranding thousands of holiday travelers throughout Brazil. The air force said it would make available eight transport planes to reduce the congestion. TAM said it will use two, and the rest are for other domestic carriers. The airlines will have to reimburse the government, the air force said. The nation's air travel system, which has been strained for months, was plunged into turmoil after TAM pulled the six planes for emergency repairs on Wednesday, leaving it unable to honor all the tickets sold. TAM tried to get passengers onto planes flown by other carriers, but there were too few seats to go around. Tropical storms added to delays and cancellations . More than 100 passengers were stuck at airports for 24 hours. The government's civil aviation agency has barred TAM from selling any more tickets for Friday flights until all stranded passengers had boarded planes. The airline said it would comply and later scrapped ticket sales for Saturday and Sunday flights. Nearly half of all flights on Friday were delayed, drawing complaints from Lula. "If the government is at fault ... if the company is at fault, say it. The people have the right to swear at the right person," the president told reporters. Air travel in Latin America's largest country became chaotic in September after a business jet and a Boeing 737 flown by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes <GOLL4.SA><GOL.N> collided at 37,000 feet (11,280 metres). The business jet landed safely but the Gol lost part of a wing and crashed into the Amazon rain forest, killing all 154 people on board. The government suspended air traffic controllers on duty at the time of the crash, a move that snarled traffic because Brazil has a shortage of reserve controllers. Controllers then staged work slowdowns to protest what they say is poor pay and excessive workloads.
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