Sunday, May 11, 2008
The rich, colorful, checkered history of flying in Latin America. Plus: In which cities is it best to just fly in and get the hell out?
Mar 14, 2008 | The history of civil aviation in Central and South America is a rich one. After all, it was a Brazilian, Alberto Santos-Dumont, who in 1906 made the first fully controlled flight of an airplane.
For many decades, however, it was U.S. and European companies that controlled most of South America's airways. It can be argued that the most influential carrier on the continent today isn't a South American carrier at all but, rather, American Airlines, which can trace its Latin lineage all the way back to 1929 and the founding of Panagra (Pan American Grace Airway). Panagra was a joint venture between Juan Trippe's Pan Am and the Grace Shipping Co., set up to compete with SCADTA, a German-owned outfit that monopolized many of the continent's most prestigious routes. Panagra later merged with Braniff, whose routes were eventually sold to Eastern in the early 1980s. With Eastern's demise, they were acquired by American.
Not that South America wasn't, through its own derring-do, home to some of the first established carriers. Avianca, the national airline of Colombia, was founded in 1919, and today ranks second oldest in the world (Holland's KLM is the eldest). Two years later came Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB). Until its unfortunate suspension of services in 2007, the airline of Bolivia -- Bolivia! -- had been around longer than any U.S. major.
But on the whole, the airlines of Latin America have been nothing if not erratic, possibly even more unstable and ill-fated than their counterparts in the United States. The reasons for this are varied, if not entirely surprising, ranging from corrupt government ownership to the economic woes of the home nations. Sure, many developing nations nurture their airlines as a point of pride -- look at Ethiopian Airlines -- but this is hardly easy in a region marked by political instability, repeated economic crises, and something less than an upwardly mobile population. That LAB, based in one of the poorest nations on earth, lasted 86 years is something of a miracle.
Others never made it that far. Former South American mainstays like Aeroperú, Ecuatoriana and Viasa also are gone. Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela no longer have a national carrier to speak of. Lesser-known but equally storied airlines, such as Peru's Fawcett, Brazil's VASP and Avensa of Venezuela have succumbed as well. Others cling to solvency. Venezuela's Aeropostal, around since 1929, was operating only limited flights between Caracas and Miami at this writing. (My 2004 flight aboard Aeropostal in 2004 is detailed here.) Varig, the historic national airline of Brazil, whose network once reached Africa and the Far East, has come close to liquidation on more than one occasion, and today is reduced to also-ran status against giants like TAM and Gol.
Service-wise, most airlines of Latin America have not been highly regarded. (Some of you might recall my experience three years ago with a Chilean carrier, whose staff refused to provide information during a lengthy delay, then stole from my luggage.) Standards are roughly on a par with what we're used to in North America. Average fleet ages, too, tend to be on the high side. Uncomfortable planes, mediocre service, and a shaky history marked with bankruptcies and liquidations. Sounds a lot like commercial aviation in the U.S., actually. So goes flying in the Americas.
One exception would be LAN, arguably the only world-class airline in South America, known for excellent service and reliability. Formerly known as LAN-Chile, the company now has subsidiaries in Ecuador and Peru, picking up the slack from those countries' flopped national carriers. I flew LAN-Peru a few years back and could not have been more impressed. Slightly to the north is TACA, the collective airline of several Central American nations and another duly respected outfit. Copa, in Panama, also has a good reputation. Copa was established in 1947, but did not become a serious player until Continental Airlines purchased a 49 percent stake in 1998. Today, Copa's network reaches 21 countries. (Astute fliers will notice that Copa and Continental share almost identical liveries.)
I'll also attest to the squeaky clean standards aboard PLUNA, the little-known airline of Uruguay. My ride on a PLUNA 737 was covered here.
I know, some of you will wonder about safety. As my regular readers already know, I dislike comparing airline against airline, region against region, when it comes to accident data. There are too many nuances to make such differentiations meaningful, and, with accidents as rare as they are, to describe one airline as "safer" than another means little in practical terms. Suffice it to say there is no Latin American airline that I would avoid. Granted there are many challenges to Latin American flying, including some of the world's highest and most rugged terrain. Complicated approaches and balky radar coverage can add to the difficulty. But nobody knows these areas more intimately than the hometown carriers that operate there. TACA, to pick one, has been in business since 1931, and has not recorded a fatal accident in over 45 years. LAB, for all its troubles, hadn't had a crash since the 1970s.
A partial list of defunct Latin American carriers
Aercontinente (Peru)
Aeroperú (Peru)
Avensa (Venezeula)
Cruzeiro (Brazil)
Dominicana (Dominican Republic)
Ecuatoriana (Ecuador)
Fawcett (Peru)
LAB (Bolivia)
Ladeco (Chile)
Air Panama (Panama)
SAETA (Ecuador)
SAHSA (Honduras)
Transbrasil (Brazil)
VASP (Brazil)
Viasa (Venezuela)
Latin America's largest airlines (in millions of passengers carried)
1. TAM (Brazil) 25.0
2. Gol (Brazil) 17.4
3. LAN Group 12.2
4. Avianca (Colombia) 7.5
5. Varig (Brazil) 7.5
Pilot report
AeroRepública Flight 7480
Leticia, Colombia, to Bogotá
Class: Economy
Aircraft: Embraer ERJ-190
The first thing you notice about AeroRepública is how similar its livery is to that of the aforementioned Copa, whose colors bear a striking, not at all accidental resemblance to those of Continental. Copa purchased 90 percent of AeroRepública in 2005. The company had been around since '92, but operations were greatly expanded after the takeover. Today AeroRepública is the second-biggest airline in Colombia, behind the historic Avianca.
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