LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is a Chilean multinational airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Chile.[1][2] It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America[5][6] with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.[7][8][9][10][11] The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States on 26 May 2020, due to economic problems attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation.[12]

LATAM Airlines Group S.A.
Company typeSociedad Anónima
BCS: LTM
ISINCL0000000423 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryAviation
Founded22 June 2012; 12 years ago (2012-06-22)
HeadquartersSantiago, Chile[1][2]
Key people
Ignacio Cueto[3] (Chairman)
Roberto Alvo (CEO)
ProductsPassenger flights
Cargo activity
Aircraft maintenance
ServicesAirline Services
RevenueIncrease US$11.789 billion (2023)[4]
Increase US$1.078 billion (2023)[4]
Increase US$0.582 billion (2023)[4]
Total assetsIncrease US$14.667 billion (2023)[4]
Owner
Number of employees
35,568 (2023)
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.latamairlinesgroup.net

Although LATAM Airlines' headquarters are located in Chile, the carrier is an American depositary receipt and traded on both the Santiago Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange at the time of bankruptcy. The company's stock ticker (LTMAQ) was delisted from the NYSE and later moved to the unregulated OTC Markets Pink on 12 June 2020.

History

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Merger

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Chile's LAN-Chile and Brazil's TAM Linhas Aéreas signed a non-binding agreement to merge on 13 August 2010, followed by a binding agreement on 19 January 2011,[13][14] and papers to close the merger on 22 June 2012, with TAM Linhas Aéreas' shareholders agreeing to the takeover by LAN Airlines.[15] Enrique Cueto, former CEO of LAN, became the CEO of LATAM; LATAM now has been reworked into being a portmanteau word of "Latin" and "America".[16] Mauricio Rolim Amaro, formerly vice-chairman of TAM, became LATAM chairman.[17]

Government approvals

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The agreement to establish LATAM was approved by Chilean authorities on 21 September 2011, with 11 restrictions. These included transferring four landing slots at São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport to competitors interested in operating flights to Santiago de Chile's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, renouncing membership to either the Oneworld or Star Alliance airline alliance, restricting the increase in capacity on flights between Brazil and Chile, and opening code-share possibilities and fidelity program membership to interested competitors.[18] On 14 December 2011, Brazilian authorities approved the agreement, imposing similar restrictions as Chilean authorities: LATAM would have to choose an alliance by August 2012 and frequencies between São Paulo and Santiago de Chile would have to be reduced. At the time, TAM had two pairs of slots while LAN had four. LAN had to relinquish two pairs to competitors interested in using them.[19] On 7 March 2013, LATAM announced its final decision to choose Oneworld as its global airline alliance. As a result, TAM left Star Alliance during the second quarter of 2014 to join Oneworld.[20]

Rebranding

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In August 2015, it was announced that all LATAM Airlines Group airlines would fully rebrand as LATAM, with one unified livery to be applied on all aircraft by 2018.[21][22] The rebranding included all aspects of the business, such as staff uniforms and airport check in facilities.[23] The first of the aircraft were repainted (or delivered new) in the new LATAM livery in April 2016.[24]

2019–2020: Delta stake, Oneworld departure, and Enrique Cueto steps down

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On 26 September 2019, Delta Air Lines announced its plans to buy 20% of LATAM for $1.9 billion, to expand Delta's access to the Latin American market. Additionally, Delta agreed to pay LATAM's exit fee from Oneworld and to take delivery of all Airbus A350 XWB aircraft that LATAM had on order.[25][26] On 1 January 2020, it was reported that Delta Air Lines' acquisition of the 20% stake in the LATAM group was completed.[citation needed] Group CEO Enrique Cueto stepped down on 31 March 2020, and was succeeded by Roberto Alvo, the group's then-current Chief Commercial Officer.[27] On 31 January 2020, LATAM announced that it would leave Oneworld three months later on 1 May.[28]

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On 26 May 2020, LATAM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States due to economic problems attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation,[12] although they are currently operating and have been negotiating terms.[29] In August, the company announced its second-quarter results, projecting improved operational prospects. To assist with the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, the company announced that its subsidiary LATAM Perú would help distribute vaccines to fifteen provinces in Peru for free.[30]

Corporate affairs

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The key trends for the LATAM Group are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):

Revenue
(US$ m)
Net profit
(US$ m)
Number of
employees
Number of
passengers
(m)
Passenger
load factor
(%)
Number of
served
countries[a]
Number of
destinations
Fleet
size
Cargo carried
(000 tons)
References
2012 9,722 24.3 53,599 64.9 78.6 140 327 1,200 [31][32]
2013 13,266 −281 52,997 66.6 80.8 145 339 1,171 [32]
2014 12,471 −109 53,072 67.8 83.4 155 327 1,102 [33]
2015 10,125 −219 50,413 67.8 83.1 25 150 331 1,009 [34]
2016 9,527 69.2 45,916 66.9 84.2 25 145 332 944 [35]
2017 10,163 155 43,095 67.0 84.8 24 140 315 896 [36]
2018 10,368 181 41,170 68.8 83.1 26 135 320 921 [37]
2019 10,430 190 41,729 74.2 83.5 26 125 342 903 [38]
2020 4,334 −4,545 28,396 28.3 76.5 21 100 300 785 [39]
2021 5,111 −4,647 29,114 40.2 74.4 18 110 310 801 [40]
2022 9,516 1,339 32,507 62.0 81.3 22 120 310 901 [41]
2023 11,789 582 35,568 74.0 83.1 26 130 333 946 [42]

Ownership

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As of 31 December 2023, the company's major shareholders are:[43]

Shareholder Interest
  Sixth Street Partners 27.91%
  Strategic Value Partners 16.02%
  Delta Air Lines 10.05%
  Qatar Airways 10.03%
  Cueto Group 5.03%
Other investors 30.96%
100%

Operations

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A LATAM Chile Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at John F. Kennedy International Airport in July 2016.

As of 31 December 2017, LATAM Airlines Group is one of the largest airline groups in the world in terms of network connections, with its subsidiaries operating a combined fleet of 315 aircraft providing passenger transport services to 137 destinations in 24 countries; and 18 aircraft providing cargo services to 144 destinations in 29 countries.[44]

LATAM's main hubs are Santiago de Chile's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport; Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima; São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport; and El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá. The company is exploring the creation of a new hub in northeastern Brazil with the objective of expanding operations between Europe and South America.[45] Bogotá is the hub for the Caribbean.[46]

Subsidiaries

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Current

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A LATAM Brasil Airbus A320neo at Salgado Filho International Airport in 2016.
 
A LATAM Brasil Airbus A350-900 at Toulouse Blagnac International Airport in 2016.

The airlines majority- and minority-owned by LATAM Airlines Group through the primary airlines' various subsidiaries are as follows:

Former

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Fleet

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As of June 2024, LATAM Airlines Group owns and operates the following aircraft:[49]

LATAM Airlines Group Fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
J W Y Total
Airbus A319-100 40 144 144
Airbus A320-200 135 168 168 Equipped with both CFM56 and IAE V2500 engines.
This is due to the merger between TAM (IAE) and LAN (CFM).
174 174
180 180
188 188 Former Viva Air Colombia aircraft.
Airbus A320neo 24 14 180 180
174 174
Airbus A321-200 49 220 220
224 224
Airbus A321neo 12 51 224 224 Deliveries commenced in October 2023.[50]
Airbus A321XLR 13 TBA Deliveries start in 2025.[51]
Boeing 767-300ER 9 20 211 231
213 233
218 238
Boeing 777-300ER 10 38 50 322 410 LATAM Brasil flights only
Boeing 787-8 10 30 217 247
Boeing 787-9 27 19 30 283 313 With 5 options. Deliveries until 2030
57 216 303
LATAM Cargo fleet
Boeing 767-300F 9 Cargo
Boeing 767-300ER/BCF 12 1
Total 338 98

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ passenger operations

References

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  1. ^ a b "LATAM Airlines Group SA". Reuters. 17 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Latam Airlines Group SA Corporate Information". Bloomberg L.P. 27 October 2018.
  3. ^ "LATAM – Board of Directors". latamairlinesgroup.net. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Annual Integrated Report 2023". LATAM Airlines Group SA. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Latam Airlines Group SA – Company Profile and News". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Kantar BrandZ" (PDF).
  7. ^ Webber, Jude; Lemer, Jeremy (15 August 2010). "LatAm airlines join consolidation trend". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  8. ^ Sobie, Brendan (13 August 2010). "LAN and TAM to merge". Flight International. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Contact." LATAM Airlines Group. Retrieved on 25 January 2013. "Contact Pdte. Riesco 5711, 20th floor Las Condes Santiago, Chile "
  10. ^ http://i.imgur.com/IvRaefc.jpg [bare URL image file]
  11. ^ http://www.melhoresdestinos.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/logo_timeline_1024.jpg [bare URL image file]
  12. ^ a b "LATAM becomes largest airline driven to bankruptcy by coronavirus". Reuters. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  13. ^ "TAM and LAN announce binding agreement". TAM Linhas Aéreas. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  14. ^ "LAN says signs non-binding deal with TAM to merge". Reuters. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  15. ^ "Chile's Lan and Brazil's Tam merge to create huge airline". BBC. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  16. ^ "Enrique Cueto to be CEO of new LAN-TAM parent". Flight International. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  17. ^ "LAN and TAM aim to complete merger by mid 2011". Flight Global. 14 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  18. ^ Seabra, Luciana (21 September 2011). "Tribunal chileno aprova fusão de TAM e LAN com 11 condições" (in Portuguese). Valor Econômico. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  19. ^ Rodrigues, Eduardo; Froufe, Célia (14 December 2011). "Com restrições, CADE aprova fusão TAM/Lan" (in Portuguese). O Estado de S. Paulo. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  20. ^ "LATAM – News Release". latamairlinesgroup.net. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  21. ^ "LAN and TAM to operate as LATAM with a new livery" retrieved 9 August 2015
  22. ^ "LATAM's entire fleet to have new livery by 2018" retrieved 9 August 2015
  23. ^ Mutzabaugh, Ben (7 August 2015). "So long, LAN and TAM; Airlines will soon fly under LATAM brand". USA Today. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  24. ^ Mutzabaugh, Ben. "LATAM Airlines unveils post-merger paint scheme for LAN, TAM planes". USA TODAY. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  25. ^ Rucinski, Tracy (27 September 2019). "Delta to buy 20% of LATAM for $1.9 billion in regional shake-up". Reuters. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  26. ^ Sider, Alison (26 September 2019). "Delta Air Lines to Take 20% Stake in Latam Airlines for $1.9 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  27. ^ "LATAM AIRLINES GROUP REPORTS A 21.8% IMPROVEMENT IN OPERATING INCOME AND A 10.1% OPERATING MARGIN FOR THE THIRD QUARTER 2019". Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  28. ^ "Details | oneworld". oneworld.com. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  29. ^ Laing, Fabian Cambero, Aislinn (17 September 2020). "LATAM Airlines proposes new $2.45 billion financing deal to U.S. bankruptcy court". Reuters. Retrieved 21 November 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "LATAM trasladará de forma gratuita las vacunas COVID-19 en el Perú | ECONOMIA". Peru21 (in Spanish). 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  31. ^ "LATAM Annual Report 2012". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  32. ^ a b "LATAM Annual Report 2013". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  33. ^ "LATAM Annual Report 2014". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  34. ^ "LATAM Annual Report 2015". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  35. ^ "LATAM Annual Report 2016". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  36. ^ "LATAM Annual Report 2017" (PDF). LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Memoria Integrada 2018". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  38. ^ "LATAM Integrated Report 2019". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  39. ^ "LATAM Integrated Report 2020". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  40. ^ "LATAM Integrated Report 2021". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  41. ^ "LATAM Integrated Report 2022". LATAM. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  42. ^ "LATAM Integrated Report 2023". LATAM. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  43. ^ "Ownership Structure". LATAM Airlines Group SA. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  44. ^ "LATAM – Annual Reports". latamairlinesgroup.net. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  45. ^ "LATAM Airlines Group has to undergo a delicate balance of short term pain for strategic gain". centreforaviation.com. Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  46. ^ Bohorquez Aya, Edwin (7 July 2015). "América Latina le habla duro a". El Espectador (Spanish). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  47. ^ "LATAM Airlines Argentina halts domestic cargo service". Global Cargo News. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  48. ^ "LATAM Airlines concluye venta de participación en MASAir Cargo". Transponder 1200. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  49. ^ "LATAM Airlines Consolidated Fleet". LATAM Airlines Group. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  50. ^ "LATAM Airlines takes delivery of its first A321neo, adds 13 more to orderbook". Aviacionline.com. 15 January 2024.
  51. ^ "LATAM orders 17 A321neo and gets 13 A321XLR". Air Insight. 21 July 2022.
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