Airline Pilot Central Forums - LATAM Prematurely Retires A350 Fleet

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myfingershurt (Post 3218944)

For those of us that don’t read Portuguese, is there a translated version?

LATAM Brasil's newest long-haul aircraft will leave the scene very soon, with the company announcing its withdrawal today.

The jet that was an order originally made by the Brazilian TAM Linhas Aéreas in 2008, has gone through several phases in the company since its delivery in 2016.

Since then, the aircraft began to be painted from the old TAM standard to the new LATAM one. Due to the effects of the 2015 crisis, some units were transferred to Qatar Airways, albeit flying with the painting of the Latin company. More recently, in 2019, with the LATAM stock purchase agreement by the American Delta, it was agreed that some jets would be passed on to the American company. But the Coronavirus crisis came, causing the company to keep most planes on the ground, in a state of long-term storage.

The entry into the LATAM Group's Judicial Reorganization only made things worse and some jets were returned, and others were even auctioned off. And today the company's CEO, Jerome Cadier, has announced the complete withdrawal of the fleet.

According to him announced in an internal statement, the company has undergone several restructurings due to the group's Judicial Reorganization. “Among the decisions, one of them is the restructuring of our widebody fleet in Brasi. Therefore, today we announce that at that moment, seven A350 aircraft will no longer be part of LATAM Brasil's fleet, and next week, another four. As a result, as of this month, the LATAM Group's widebody fleet will be comprised of Boeing 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner ”stated the CEO. It is unclear where the A350s will go, whether they will only be returned to the lessors, who are the banks and finance companies that own the aircraft, or whether they will go to other airlines. It was also unclear whether Brazilian pilots will be trained to fly Boeing 787s that are registered in Chile, something that is possible today due to agreements between countries.

We contacted LATAM to find out more details about this change, and as soon as the company responds, this report will be updated. See the full note below: