A Latin lament: Latin America's airlines are becoming increasingly vocal in criticising the way that aviation is treated by their own national governments.(Statistical Data Included)

Publication: Airline Business

Publication Date: 04-JUN-01

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COPYRIGHT 2001 Reed Business Information Ltd.

The woes of Latin America's airlines continue, but for the first time the carriers have openly acknowledged that their own governments are a big part of the problem.EDelegates at the ninth International Airline CEO Conference, a respected Latin aviation forum held this year in Palm Beach, heard an unprecedented outpouring of complaints about the governments of Central and South America. These complaints came together with an array of views about how to influence or find ways to work around them.

The conference theme "The best is yet to come" may have been designed to convey optimism, but speakers took it to mean that things could hardly get worse.ERobert Papkin, conference chairman, described the latest financial results of Latin American airlines as "deplorable".EFederico Bloch, chief executive of Grupo TACA, said the Latin airline industry is "in shambles".EPatricio Sepulveda, regional director for the International Air Transport Association, warned that 85% of Latin America's airlines are in jeopardy.

Papkin's list includes Aerolineas Argentinas, which he warns "may be near its end"; Bolivia's LAB, which he says is "trying to save one of the oldest airline names in Latin America"; and Ecuatoriana, which is...

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