Chile's LAN Airlines and Brazil's TAM Airlines signed a non-binding agreement on 13 August 2010, a binding agreement on 19 January 2011,[14][15] and papers to close the merger on 22 June 2012, with TAM Airlines shareholders agreeing to the takeover by LAN Airlines.[16] Enrique Cueto, former CEO of LAN, is CEO of LATAM;[17] Mauricio Rolim Amaro, formerly vice-chairman of TAM, became LATAM chairman.[18]
Government approvals
The agreement to establish LATAM was approved by Chilean authorities on 21 September 2011, with 11 restrictions. These include transferring four landing slots at São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport to competitors interested in operating flights to Santiago de Chile's Comodoro 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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]
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.[22][23] The first of these aircraft were repainted (or delivered new) in a new LATAM livery in April 2016.
LATAM Airlines Group is currently working on the rebranding process, which is expected to be completed by 2019. Changes are becoming gradually more evident in physical spaces, on aircraft, at business offices, airport service counters, web sites, uniforms among others. Some changes are already in place, mainly in passenger travel experiences, such as the new cabin interiors which have been incorporated into the fleet, new VIP lounges in São Paulo and Santiago currently open to the public and forming part of the largest network of frequent flyer lounges in the region, and digital platforms such as the onboard entertainment system for mobile devices.[24]
2019-2020: Delta stake, Oneworld departure, and Enrique Cueto steps down
On 26 September 2019, Delta Air Lines announced its plans to buy 20% of LATAM for $1.9 billion which will expand Delta's access to Latin America. Additionally, Delta is paying LATAM's exit fee from Oneworld and acquiring the remainder of LATAM's Airbus A350 XWB order book.[25][26][27] On 1 January 2020, it was reported that the Delta Air Lines acquisition of the 20% stake in LATAM group was completed.[28] Group CEO Enrique Cueto will step down on March 31, 2020, and will be succeeded by Roberto Alvo, the group’s current Chief Commercial Officer.[29]
Ownership
The company's shareholder structure as of 31 December 2018 is:
Shareholder
Percentage
Cueto Group
27.9%
Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP - Chilean Pension Funds)
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.[30]
LATAM's main hubs are Santiago de Chile's Comodoro 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.[31] Bogota was recently announced as the new hub for the Caribbean.[32]
Subsidiary airlines of LATAM Airlines Group
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.
The airlines majority- and minority-owned by LATAM Airlines Group through the primary airlines' various subsidiaries are as follows: