WE ARE CHANGING THE DEFINITION OF DEFAULTER
As you know in the work of the BLACKLIST.AERO Register we were guided by a clear definition of what a "Defaulter" is. So, according to our previous rules, Defaulter: a company that has not paid an invoice after more than 90 days past the overdue date.
Such a long transition period from “Slow payer” to “Defaulter” was quite justified in 2022 when we started our operations. Aviation has just begun to recover from the long crisis associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the companies in the market were, to put it mildly, not in the best condition.
However, even then it was clear that some companies, gradually recovering from the blow to the industry were trying albeit slowly, to pay off the debts that had arisen. Others have only taken advantage of common problems to avoid financial responsibility. They just shifted their problems onto others.
Over the past two years the aviation industry has recovered sufficiently to draw some intermediate conclusions. Those who wanted to recover and have enough professionalism to do so are moving forward, no matter what. Their reputation, built up in previous years, is working now for them and bearing fruit.
The rest were divided into three groups: those who died, those who die slowly by spreading the stench of debts, and those who retrained from defaulters to professional fraudsters. It is this group that’s most dangerous for other market members. Because now they plan for non-payment as an important element of their business from the very beginning. And they know that such an important element needs to be presented to colleagues in aviation, as they say, "for dessert".
They clearly plan at what point they will stop paying. And not to everyone at the same time. At first, they stop paying those who are most patient and, in order to maintain good relations, are willing to wait longer than others. Then they stop paying those who dare to claim their right to receive their money on time, as if "offended by unprecedented impudence." "I could have paid a long time ago, but they treated us very harshly, demanding their money! So now let them wait just as long!" You've probably met with this, and more than once. In general the game of sacrifice is one of the most frequently used techniques according to our observations.
Well, at the end it's the turn of those who thought: "Well, he might not pay this or that. But he'll pay me, we're friends!" Only after the "friends" realize that even they will not be paid does the market howl. But by that time the company that has accumulated debts is already an uncoupled wagon. There's nothing left to take from it. And the clever fraudster is already promoting a new company, which in a few years will suffer the same fate.
It is the rapidly increasing number of companies, the development of debt histories of which leads to unequivocal conclusions about fraud. That forces us to revise the rules of the BLACKLIST.AERO registry in terms of determining who is a “Defaulter” and who is a “Slow Payer”. We do this so that the creditors of such companies can sound the alarm earlier to protect other companies from dangerous cooperation with fraudsters.
Thus, now in our Rules and Definition, the definition of a Defaulter will be as follows: "Defaulter is a company that has not paid an invoice after more than 14 days past the overdue date".
Creditors of SmartLynx Unite Under the Auspices of BLACKLIST.AERO
A criminal investigation has been opened into suspected fraud involving the management of SIA Smartlynx Airlines and the alleged fictitious sale of the airline to a new owner. BLACKLIST.AERO learned this information from a source familiar with the investigation. The case was initiated after a complaint was filed with the police by one of the creditors. It is also possible that additional complaints have been submitted by other defrauded counterparties of Smartlynx.
Over the past week, investment analysts from companies holding Avia Solutions Group (ASG) bonds have contacted me twice, asking for a more detailed explanation of the SmartLynx bankruptcy. Their biggest concern is that the same situation could repeat with other companies within the ASG holding.
The covert bankruptcy—legally framed as a “restructuring”—of SIA SmartLynx Airlines (Latvia), along with the highly probable collapse of SmartLynx Malta and SmartLynx Estonia in the near future, has become more than just a landmark event for the aviation market. Its consequences may amount to a full-fledged default tsunami, triggering a cascade of multimillion-euro non-payments across the industry.
