Almost a year ago, Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral, Argentina’s two State carriers merged under one brand, following years of trying. It was the latest development in a 70-year history. Currently, Aerolíneas Argentinas has 67% of the domestic market share in the country and 43% of the international one.
Aerolíneas Argentinas launched operations in 1949, when former Argentina president Juan Perón merged various operations into a single state-owned carrier.
The history of Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas has had a very interesting history. At one point, it was one of the few operators in South America to use the Boeing B747 aircraft.
Nevertheless, Aerolíneas began through a merger in 1949. The government took four local carriers (the Argentinian airlines, or aerolíneas argentinas) called Alfa, Zonda, Fama, and Aeroposta, and united them under one new brand. The new carrier started flying one year later. Its first flight connected Buenos Aires and Frankfurt with layovers in Natal (Brazil), Dakar (current Senegal), Lisbon (Portugal), and Paris (France).
During the first years of its history, Aerolíneas Argentinas used classic jets like the DC-3 and the Comet IV.
With aircraft such as the Dougls DC-6, Aerolíneas expanded its flights to New York, Havana, Lisbon, and London.
In 1979, Aerolíneas received its first Boeing 747-200. It was the first Latin American airline to operate the Queen of the Skies. During its history, Aerolíneas had up to 12 B747s.
Aerolíneas Argentinas decline?
Nevertheless, the Falklands War (or Malvinas war, depending on where are you reading this) put Aerolíneas in a tough spot. Iberia purchased 85% of the carrier in 1991.
A decade later, Aerolíneas was in financial disarray. It was on the edge of closing out, due to unpaid salaries and lack of flights.
In 2004, Marsans Group acquired the company through a cash injection, only to be nationalized again in September 2008. The president at the time, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, said the nationalization was temporary. The objective was to “guarantee the survival of our State carrier.”
Since the nationalization, Aerolíneas has never been profitable. Between 2008 and 2020, Aerolíneas has had yearly negative Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) totaling US$5.17 billion. The State is constantly giving cash injections to the company.
The merger was possible thanks to COVID-19
By the end of 2020, Aerolíneas Argentinas announced a shocking development, it was merging with the State carrier Austral. For years, the government had been trying to merge both carriers to no avail. The Unions had previously stopped any attempt to mixing up the brands. But the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity.
Pablo Ceriani, Aerolíneas Argentinas CEO, discussed the merging during its participation in the recent ALTA Airline Leaders Forum. He said,
“The only thing that we could do was to lower costs. One very important thing was the openness of many sectors regarding the difficult spot we were in (due to the crisis), mainly the providers and the employees. The Unions were very accessible to find solutions that we couldn’t have found before. One of the things we did that we would have never been able to do under other circumstances was merging Austral and Aerolíneas. The merger, which would have been impossible to do due to the resistance of the Unions, was understood, accepted, and happened swiftly.”
Following the merger, Aerolíneas introduced the new livery for Austral’s Embraer E190 fleet.
Due to the travel restrictions in Argentina, the State carrier has been slow to pick up its demand. In November 2021 (when the government finally opened up the borders), Aerolíneas has scheduled 5,443 flights. That’s a 44% decrease compared to November 2019, according to Cirium’s database.
Currently, Aerolíneas has a fleet of 77 aircraft, including nine Airbus A330-200, 42 Boeing 737, and 26 Embraer E190. The carrier will take delivery of 11 additional aircraft (two A330-200 and nine B737 MAX 8).
Have you ever flown with Aerolíneas Argentinas? How was it? Let us know in the comments below.
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