Aerolineas Argentinas to become first SkyTeam member in South America

Aerolineas Argentinas 737-700. Photo: By Rob Finlayson.

Aerolineas Argentinas will sign an agreement by the end of this month "to officially start the process of joining SkyTeam as the first South American member of the airline alliance," SkyTeam said in a statement Tuesday.

The alliance added that it "is actively working to strengthen its presence in Latin America, a region with strong growth figures and a positive outlook for the future." It said AR is expected to become a full member in 2012. Aeromexico is the geographically closest current member.

Re-nationalized in late 2008, AR has been loss-making for some time. It is trying to shake off what President Mariano Recalde has described as a reputation for poor service that took hold when Grupo Marsans owned the Buenos Aires-based carrier. When the Spanish company controlled it, service was "irregular and constantly delayed," he told the Buenos Aires Herald earlier this year. "Buying a ticket and hoping for a flight on time was like buying a lottery ticket." He has projected that AR will return to profitability in 2012.

SkyTeam said that "through a five-year restructuring plan introduced last year, Aerolineas Argentinas is implementing a number of measures to strengthen its business model and establish itself as a major player in Latin America. Key elements of this plan include fleet renewal and rationalization, adding key international destinations, increasing the density of the domestic and regional network and improving product quality and consistency."

SkyTeam Chairman Leo van Wijk said at the alliance's 10th anniversary gathering in New York earlier this year that Latin America is "the most difficult" area in which to find potential partners with suitable network scope because "the market is rather fragmented…It is not a continent where one solution will do, so we are targeting more carriers in the different regions of the continent" (ATW Daily News, June 23).

SkyTeam MD Marie-Joseph Male told ATW that the alliance will maintain its standards as it expands because "Whoever wants to join has to commit to go through a process and comply with more than 100 membership requirements. That in and of itself ensures that we have a level of service offering that's acceptable."

The alliance currently has 13 members. China Eastern Airlines and China Airlines also are in the process of becoming members (ATW Daily News, Sept. 15). AR's network comprises 18 international destinations. In conjunction with regional affiliate Austral Lineas Aereas, it operates flights to 34 destinations in Argentina.