LATAM Airlines

Latin American airline holding company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LATAM Airlines is a Chilean multinational airline headquartered in Santiago, Chile.[2][3] It is the largest airline holding company in Latin America[6][7] with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.[8][9][10][11][12]

Founded22 June 2012; 14 years ago (2012-06-22)
Subsidiaries
Fleetsize368
Destinations166[1]
Quick facts Founded, Subsidiaries ...
LATAM Airlines Group S.A.
Founded22 June 2012; 14 years ago (2012-06-22)
Subsidiaries
Fleet size368
Destinations166[1]
Traded as
HeadquartersSantiago[2][3]
Key peopleIgnacio Cueto[4] (Chairman)
Roberto Alvo (CEO)
RevenueIncrease US$13.034 billion (2024)[5]
Operating incomeIncrease US$1.660 billion (2024)[5]
Net incomeIncrease US$0.977 billion (2024)[5]
Total assetsIncrease US$15.850 billion (2024)[5]
Employees35,568 (2023)
Websitewww.latamairlinesgroup.net
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Although LATAM Airlines' headquarters are located in Chile, the carrier is an American depositary receipt and is traded on both the Santiago Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. 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, and later emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in 2022.

History

Merger

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

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

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]

Delta stake and Oneworld departure

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]

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,[29] although they continued to operate while negotiating terms.[30] In response to the bankruptcy filing, the company's stock ticker (LTM) was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on 9 June 2020 and moved to the unregulated OTC Markets Pink on 12 June 2020 using the stock ticker LTMAQ.[31][32] 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.[33]

Bankruptcy recovery

LATAM emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in 2022, coupled with a restructuring of the company.[34] And on 24 July 2024, the company's LTM stock ticker was relisted on the New York Stock Exchange.[35]

Corporate affairs

The key trends for the LATAM Group are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):[36]

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 [37][38]
2013 13,266 −281 52,997 66.6 80.8 145 339 1,171 [38]
2014 12,471 −109 53,072 67.8 83.4 155 327 1,102 [39]
2015 10,125 −219 50,413 67.8 83.1 25 150 331 1,009 [40]
2016 9,527 69.2 45,916 66.9 84.2 25 145 332 944 [41]
2017 10,163 155 43,095 67.0 84.8 24 140 315 896 [42]
2018 10,368 181 41,170 68.8 83.1 26 135 320 921 [43]
2019 10,430 190 41,729 74.2 83.5 26 125 342 903 [44]
2020 4,334 −4,545 28,396 28.3 76.5 21 100 300 785 [45]
2021 5,111 −4,647 29,114 40.2 74.4 18 110 310 801 [46]
2022 9,516 1,339 32,507 62.0 81.3 22 120 310 901 [47]
2023 11,789 582 35,568 74.0 83.1 26 130 333 946 [48]

Ownership

As of 31 July 2025, the company's major shareholders are[49]:

More information Shareholder, Interest ...
ShareholderInterest
United States Sixth Street Partners20,1 %
United States Strategic Value Partners11,5 %
United States Delta Air Lines10.0%
Qatar Qatar Airways10.0%
Chile Cueto Group5.0%
Other investors38.3%
100%
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Operations

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.[50]

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.[51] Bogotá is the hub for the Caribbean.[52]

Subsidiaries

Current

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. This aircraft, along with all other A350s in LATAM Brasil's fleet, have since been phased out and fly for other airlines nowadays, mostly Delta and Edelweiss Air.

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

Former

Codeshare agreements

LATAM codeshares with the following airlines:[55]

Interline agreements

LATAM interlines with the following airlines:

Lounges

LATAM lounge in Santiago promoting the LAN-TAM merger

LATAM Airlines operates lounges at the following airports:[64]

These lounges are accessible for passengers traveling in Premium Business, Business, and Premium Economy, as well as selected members of the LATAM Pass program who are Black or Platinum members.[citation needed]

The newly renovated LATAM lounges were designed by Chilean architects Mathias Klotz and Olivia Putman.[citation needed]

LATAM Pass

LATAM Pass is the airline's frequent flyer program to reward customer loyalty. There are currently over four million members. Members earn miles every time they fly with LATAM Chile, an affiliated airline, or by using the services of any LATAM Pass-associated business around the world.[65]

The LATAM Pass program has five membership categories:[66]

  • Gold
  • Gold Plus
  • Platinum
  • Black
  • Black Signature

Fleet

As of February 2026, LATAM Airlines Group owns and operates the following aircraft:[67][failed verification]

More information Aircraft, In service [citation needed] ...
LATAM Airlines Group fleet
Aircraft In service
[citation needed]		 Orders Passengers Notes
J W Y Total
Airbus A319-100 39 — – – 144 144
Airbus A320-200 135 — – – 168 168 Equipped with both CFM56 and IAE V2500 engines.[citation needed]
This is due to the merger between TAM (IAE) and LAN (CFM).
174 174
180 180
188 188 Former Viva Air Colombia aircraft.[citation needed]
Airbus A320neo 51 26 – – 180 180
174 174
Airbus A321-200 49 — – – 220 220
224 224
Airbus A321neo 17 48 – – 224 224 Deliveries commenced in October 2023.[68]
Airbus A321XLR — 13 TBA Deliveries start in 2025.[69]
Boeing 767-300ER 9 — 20 – 211 231
213 233
218 238
Boeing 777-300ER 10 — 38 50 322 410 LATAM Brasil flights only.[citation needed]
Boeing 787-8 10 — 20 – 252 272
30 217 247
Boeing 787-9 28 19 30 – 283 313 With 5 options. Deliveries until 2030.[citation needed]
57 216 303
Embraer 195-E2 — 24 TBA Order with 50 options.[70]
Deliveries begin 2026.[71]
LATAM Cargo fleet
Boeing 767-300F 7 — Cargo
Boeing 767-300ER/BCF 13 —
Total 368 135
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    passenger operations

References

External links

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