American Airlines has had to completely reimagine its Latin America strategy in the past couple of years. American used to have a close partnership with LATAM, but all of that changed when it was announced that Delta would buy a stake in LATAM, and the airline would leave oneworld.
Continue reading: American Invests In Brazil’s GOL, Elite Perks Coming
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
How about they refund some of the salary subsidies the government paid them. What has effectively happened here is the US government has subsidized this investment. Honestly it's insane they would do this in the same calendar year when they received subsidies.
@Ben, I think the biggest benefit is the ability to use AA awards to fly to additional destinations in Brazil. Brazil is a huge country but if you are trying to get anywhere other than Sao Paulo or Rio it is not easy. As it is you will have to do two connections from most cities in the US
“ GOL isn’t a full replacement for LATAM (in terms of product and global route network)”
I’m surprised you say this, lucky.
For product anyway. LATAM doesn’t have first class domestic either, GOL has more legroom than LATAM and gol also has more clubs than LATAM. Combined with aa, they’ll have a much nicer product than LATAM including clubs and international service to North America.
Air France and KLM have a small interest in GOL and also partner with them, despite Delta’s investment in LATAM.
I never cared for LATAM after they merged the LAN and TAM operations.....thought it was a pitiful combination. AA had been partners for years with GOL and hopefully they resume a better integrated network this time.
American’s kind of a LCC at this point in terms of their product on narrow-body flights, so it only makes sense for them to partner with another LCC. The Value Alliance or U-FLY Alliance, this time in the Americas.
Yeah…
Except for first class
More Legroom or the same in first class (including oasis) than delta on most planes.
No bad first class row with less legroom than the other rows, like delta.
The same minimum legroom in economy as delta (including oasis)
The only network carrier with high speed WiFi full installed
Free snacks
Free drinks
Cute thought but wrong. AA is far from an LCC domestically. Hyperbole is not your friend.
But LATAM has a strong presence in all Latin America, including two big hubs for international flights in São Paulo and Santiago, has a more diverse fleet...
GOL has a bussines model totally inspired in Southwest.
"GOL it’s Brazil’s largest airline"
The pandemic change things a little bit and in 2021 the market share was (Domestic flight):
LATAM: 33,8%
AZUL: 33,5%
GOL: 31,8%
Only december/2021:
LATAM: 36%
GOL: 33,8%
AZUL: 29,8%
You forgot:
Useful loyalty program with partners around the world
Membership in a global alliance
Extra-legroom seating
Lounges at major airports
Enormous network with most domestic routes flown more than once per day
I could go on. The whole "AA is an LCC" thing that shows up here and on other comment sections is incredibly tiresome.
I actually think this is pretty exciting news. For AA elites this is as good as Gol joining OW. Free bags, priority check-in, and lounge access on cheap domestic tickets in Brazil is about all I could ask for.
It's near impossible to buy tickets to Brazilian cities from the USA online, historically. If you want to go anywhere other than Rio or SP you end up buying two separate itineraries. This is going to be a huge change for Brazilian connectivity and is actually pretty great news. Even flying to Rio via connection is going to be a ton easier, as SP is a bit better connected, so you can fly there and then connect to Rio allowing more flexibility.
Yes, 100% this...it's going go be a huge deal if they execute even halfway decently. This is really exciting news. Not even just awards, but even just convenience and safety of booking one itinerary to destinations in Brazil not served by international routes (which is a ton of great cities)
Today, try and make a reservation on the AA website where a leg involves a GOL flight and all you get is an error message. LAX to FLN. So much for the "partnership".
Gol was great when it first started but it has gone way downhill. I was confounded when Delta made the deal with them and happy when they finally wised up and joined forces with Latam.