Avianca Brasil has been in talks for a much-needed cash injection since before it filed for bankruptcy on Monday, said German Efromovich, whose family controls the carrier. Efromovich, the controlling shareholder of better-known airline Avianca Holdings, said Thursday that he was negotiating with funds, which he declined to identify. He also declined to elaborate on the value and whether the transaction would be debt or equity. Avianca Brasil had faced recurring losses and a series of airplane repossession lawsuits. It lost four planes in the days leading up to its Monday bankruptcy filing, according to a source with knowledge of the disputes. At least 10 other planes are still under dispute, and a judge ruled on Thursday that Avianca Brasil can hold on to them for 30 days in case the parties can reach a deal. Otherwise, Avianca Brasil will lose the planes as the lessor already has a favorable court order. The source said that Avianca owes lessors some $100m. The airline also has debts to suppliers, including airports, fuel and maintenance companies that court records show amounted to $125m. On Thursday afternoon, the airline announced a judge had granted it bankruptcy protection on its debts.<br/>
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HNA Group held preliminary talks to sell its core airline assets to one of China’s top state-run carriers, people familiar with the matter said, a sign little has been off the table as the sprawling conglomerate seeks to pay down its hefty debt load. The talks, which haven’t been previously reported, started late last year, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The state-run parent of Air China held at least two high-level meetings to buy HNA assets including flagship Hainan Airlines, they said. But discussions have cooled in the past few months and it’s unclear whether they will progress because of numerous hurdles, according to the people. HNA, which declined to comment, subsequently denied any such discussions occurred. "Hainan Airlines is not for sale, full stop, and never was, and even the general conversations in question about other airline assets under Hainan Airlines Holding took place months ago,” HNA said. Selling Hainan Airlines would have been unthinkable up until a few years ago because the carrier was HNA’s first company and it’s remained the group’s most central business for the past quarter century. But pressure on HNA to deal with its debt, one of the biggest burdens in Asia, has forced it to embark on a massive selloff. The company, based in Hainan island off China’s southern coast, agreed to sell more than $20b in assets this year and more that double that remains on the block.<br/>
Hundreds of United flight attendants on Thursday protested outside several airports against staffing cuts, the first demonstrations by the airline's largest labour group in more than two years. United is planning to reduce staffing by one flight attendant per flight in its international business cabins and will have meals pre-plated by ground caterers instead of having flight attendants take on that task. The staffing aboard flights varies depending on the length of the flight and the type of aircraft that is used. They will still be above minimum requirements set by the FAA, according to the flight attendants' union. But flight attendants argue that fewer crew-members on board will put both safety and customer service at risk. "We need them there," said a 20-year United flight attendant who was picketing outside Newark Liberty International Airport and declined to give her name. Protests were planned outside 16 different United hub airports Thursday. "They're our eyes. It's about safety." United's CEO Oscar Munoz said the reductions would bring the airline more in line with those of its main rivals, American and Delta. "Change is difficult," Munoz said on a call with reporters Wednesday to announce new international routes and new flights from its hub in San Francisco. "We'd been staffed higher than all other of our major our major competitors on those flights... It is not about taking people out of the system or anything but we're a competitive financial business as well. Everyone in the United family is contributing and this is a way that we're going to ask our flight attendants to do that as well."<br/>