Originally Posted by stbloc

I'm sure the Mexican and Bahamian governments are really going favor Taca and Lan. I forgot how much more they fly to the Caribbean then all the US airlines. I guess Americans spending billions of dollars in there country annually does add up to any benefit to the local economy.

Last time in Cancun I couldn't believe how many Chileans there were.

That's how far south of the border US airlines operate? Do you know the names off all the countries in Latin America? Volaris is owned by Carlos Slim 3rd. richest person in the world, recently entered into code share with SWA and it owns 25% of TACA. LAN Chile is whole different animal, but I guess you knew that.

Cost is the real issue! North America is a continent; the countries south of the border are made off very small "tiny" countries. The flexibility that is provided in the US market makes the environment feasible for companies to operate. Here it is different, you will never know how deep the rabbit hole goes, political instability etc....

Just to give you an example how things work in "Latin America" It has taken the Costa Rican Gov 10 years to construct, develop and put in place a decent airport operation, 10 years! And still the novel hasn’t finished. And Costa Rica is the most progressive, stable, and secure; developed country in Central America, not Latin America.

TACA pay scales are below a regional in the US. Ten year Cap’s in TACA make around $5200 with benefits and per diem, and Embraer Cap's around $3200 MONTHLY. FA's $500 and Senior ones $1000. Ground staff depends on the minimum wage in their respective countries.

TACA is very close to any and all politicians in the region, and provides their very own "buddy passes". After the accident of TACA in Toncontin last year, the airport was closed by Zelaya, the president of Honduras. As he declared it unsafe to operate commercially, three months later it was reopened by lobbyists of TACA. Against Airbus, and its own pilots recommendations.

In Latin America we don’t have a body that regulates unfair competition, like in the US and Europe. Those bodies are in this case TACA and LAN Chile, Avianca etc, that write their own aviation law in their respective countries. In addition, low cost carriers have to operate to/from the same airports as legacy fly ins. Almost all major cities in Latin America have one airport, one less advantage for the low cost.
Anyhow I think it will be interesting to see how the low cost in Latin America will manage to take away the monopoly of the skies of these companies. You speak about “Billions of dollars” that Americans poured into Latin America, do you think they only fly with US carriers? How about corporate companies, private ones? Most economies south of the border depend on remittance s from Latin’s living in the US. So a large % of those billions are of illegal aliens in the US flying not only US airlines but their own country brand.