Editing Viasa (section)

===Privatisation===
[[File:Viasa DC-10-30 YV-134C CDG 1996-8-17.png|thumb|A VIASA McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 at [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]] in 1996. The aircraft is wearing the livery used by the company throughout the Iberia management.]]
The red ink continued to flow and, with the new government policies adopted in 1989, Viasa became a target for privatisation.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} The initial plans of the government were to allocate 60% of the company to private investors, keep 20% of the shares, and transfer the balance to the airline workers. In {{start date|df=yes|1991|6}}, Iberia and KLM were approved as bidders in the privatisation process, the former teaming up with Venezuela's [[BBVA Banco Provincial|Banco Provincial]], and the latter partnering with [[Northwest Airlines]] and other four local entities.<ref name="Venezuela Airline Drawing Bidders" /> Iberia was the only bidder left with a {{US$|145.5}}&nbsp;million offer, after KLM stepped aside citing that a price of {{US$|81}}&nbsp;million for 60% of the shares was too high.<ref>{{cite news|title= Iberia to Get Viasa Stake|agency= [[Reuters]]|newspaper= [[The New York Times]]|date= 10 August 1991|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/10/business/company-news-iberia-to-get-viasa-stake.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140410195616/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/10/business/company-news-iberia-to-get-viasa-stake.html|archive-date= 10 April 2014|access-date= 20 February 2017|url-status= live}}</ref>

Iberia apparently milked the airline (some Venezuelans point at this as one of Viasa's causes of bankruptcy). While it could be argued that it was not wise to sell a government owned leasing company to another government owned leasing company, changing the old ways of Viasa was an uphill battle. 
All its aircraft were placed under Iberia's ownership, the Airbuses were sent back to GPA, former Iberia 727s were used by Viasa (competing on the US routes versus [[American Airlines|American]]'s [[Boeing 757|757s]] or A300-600s and [[United Airlines|United]]'s 757s) and all supplies were purchased centrally through Madrid.

Short of liquidity, Viasa ceased operations on {{end date|1997|1|23|df=yes}}.<ref name="Viasa future looks bleak" /><ref name="AB25: Births, deaths and marriages" /><ref name="'Amicable' Viasa liquidation agreed"/> Operations came to a halt following the pilots and cabin crew staff rejecting a restructuring plan raised by Iberia and the state-run holding company that had a 40% interest in Viasa at that time, with both consortiums refusing to inject more cash into the airline.<ref name="Viasa future looks bleak" /> Shareholders, with Iberia being the major one having 45% of the stakes at the time, later decided to liquidate the carrier.<ref name="'Amicable' Viasa liquidation agreed" /><ref name="Viasa wreckage"/> Viasa's routes were divided between [[Aeropostal]], [[Avensa]] and [[Aserca]].<ref name="Viasa routes reallocated" />