Iberia Update – Multiple Groups Of Airlines Working Together Create Better Connectivity

Transcript

Neil Chernoff:Currently, the timing is dependent on the approvals in the region, so that's something that we're working through right now. The joint business has been approved by Brazil and Colombia, and what we're really waiting on is the approval from Chile. We know that a decision has been reached in the Chilean court system. But we're pending their written decision. We expect that to come out in the next couple of months. We're obviously hoping that that'll be positive with respect to the joint business. If it were, then, you know, in terms of launching the joint business, that could take up to another year to actually be able to do the discussions and negotiate the proper agreements. If the ruling that comes out of Chile isn't in our favor, It could lead to an appeal process that can then could delay it another six months or so. You know, that was I was surprised by the announcement. I obviously didn't know that that they were talking, but you know, I think in general it's a good thing for the industry. It's particularly what we've argued in our approval process was that the industry is moving into this direction, and I think by doing that it actually helps. Create and stimulate growth in the market because the multiple groups of airlines working together can generate better connectivity than the airlines working on their own. And so I think we've always argued that the world was moving in that direction. My assumption is that they would probably look for a partner on the Latin America side, but it's something that we assumed would occur within the industry. I think it's something that's starting, that's you know, very new in the industry and it's in its infancy stages. I would hate to discount it as a threat because I think as airline individuals, we're very quick to say, okay, well, that'll never work into Latin America. I reminded people on our panel earlier today that I think 20 years ago when the Ryanairs and EasyJets were starting, people thought that that would never work. You know, I think we've seen this work into Europe. Into the United States. And so there's no reason not to believe that we'll see some of those flights into Latin America. One of the challenges overall, though, is that the markets tend to be slightly smaller. And so some of that may be focused into some of the bigger city pairs. But, you know, I think it's something we can't ignore. And I think we'll see that expand into Latin America.

Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Our reproduction policy is as follows: you may quote up to 400 words of any transcript on the condition that you attribute the transcript to CAPA - Centre for Aviation and link to the original video page. All other use is prohibited. While we aim for 100% accuracy in the transcript, there may be some minor transcribing errors.