Chapter

Things had a very rough start back in 2020 when Roberto Alvo, the new LATAM CEO, the leading South American carrier born from the merger of Chilean LAN Chile and Brazilian TAM, took the helm.

Two months later, the company had to file for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. bankruptcy code.

Due to the pandemic, traffic collapsed with aircraft grounded and borders closed. Six years on, in July last year, Roberto Alvo was elected “Executive Leadership” for the Latin America and Caribbean region in London, at the Airline Strategy Awards ceremony.

Furthermore, at the moment we were handing the microphone to Davide Ioppolo at the IFTM fair on September 16, Roberto Alvo was honored with the BRAVO CEO of the Year 2026 award, a distinction awarded by the Council of the Americas (COA) as part of the 31st edition of the BRAVO Business Awards.

The prize will be presented to him on November 19 in Miami, United States. These honors celebrate the LATAM CEO’s actions over the past six years, during which he steered the airline to profitability returning, reduced debts, a modernized fleet, and strengthened strategic partnerships, notably with Delta, which became a shareholder.

As of this September, LATAM has once again become the leading airline group in Latin America with very strong growth in Brazil, Chile and Peru.

TourMaG – LATAM is currently in good shape, with very solid results.

Davide Ioppolo : Yes, we closed 2025 with 87 million passengers carried and net income about 50% higher than the previous year.

So it has been a spectacular year. And looking at 2026, it was almost the same. In the first quarter, we posted record revenue and profitability.

For the first six months, results were positive. The situation remains healthy, but we saw the second quarter hit results hard.

We remain with positive results, but not as strong as in the first quarter. And this is, of course, due to higher fuel prices.

TourMaG – Your profits have allowed you to invest more than $400 million in new cabins. What will be new on board?

Davide Ioppolo : We are indeed investing heavily in our cabins. We had already invested $360 million in business cabins, and we will have business suites with a door providing better privacy.

We will continue to make strong investments, not only in cabins but overall, and in the premium segments. They’re the ones that can best absorb price increases.

For example, we renovated our São Paulo lounge. We are doing the same in Lima and in Santiago de Chile. And for the first time in LATAM’s history, in 2027, we will have Premium Economy, because we are seeing very strong growth in this segment.

Investments also to outfit aircraft with Wi‑Fi. Currently, nearly our entire domestic fleet is Wi‑Fi equipped and we are starting to outfit long-haul aircraft.

TourMaG – Is the Europe–South America flow currently very dynamic?

Davide Ioppolo : Absolutely, South America is even more on European corporate agendas since the Mercosur agreement was signed, and that’s why we want to keep delivering an even better service.

We are currently seeing many Italian and French companies investing in South America, acquiring Brazilian, Chilean, and Peruvian companies. We observe this phenomenon and want to be there to capture the demand.

TourMaG – Besides the cabins, you have also invested to improve the quality of the relationship between the airline and travel agents, the sellers, through a program: Global Sales Support.

Davide Ioppolo : Yes indeed, and the idea is to offer them facilities to sell LATAM. I first want to reiterate the importance of travel agencies for us. They are the primary sales and distribution channel.

Two important points also tied to the French market that really please me.

This year we have seen airline revenues rise, often due to price increases.

What we have observed in France is also a source of satisfaction. If we look only at travel agencies and tour operators, excluding direct sales and Online Travel Agencies, we see, for example on a key axis for us, the France–Brazil axis, a very strong growth, and it’s not just a growth in the average fare, it’s an increase in passenger volume.

If we zoom in on the summer season, the same pattern appears on the France–Peru axis.

And returning to our Global Sales Support, these solid results are also due to this program that provides excellent support for travel agencies with a charter on our website dedicated to them.

To ensure an immediate response with real people and also with artificial intelligence.

Regarding the AI we launched a month ago, the early feedback has been very positive. And in any case, there will always be a person available to help solve problems. I am particularly pleased with this implementation for the French market; it was and remains one of my main objectives.

TourMaG – Far from the French market, but with the French, you have developed a collaboration with the cruise line “Ponant” to operate flights between Chile and Argentina. Could this become a regular arrangement?

Davide Ioppolo : I can’t share public information, but I can say that we have been working together for several years. We are good partners, I believe, and there’s no reason not to run more operations with this major company that Ponant is.

And what gave me pleasure is that for these flights to Antarctica, we reached an agreement to use SAF. Sustainability is important at LATAM and it isn’t easy for us because most SAF is produced in Europe and the United States.

It is still a very expensive fuel and in South America, unfortunately, we do not have large-scale SAF production.

TourMaG – So a particular effort then?

Davide Ioppolo : Yes, but also shared with Ponant. We appreciated it.

TourMaG – To return to the dynamic French market, will there be any new developments?

Davide Ioppolo : We don’t have true new offerings per se, but we have opened new destinations that could interest the French market.

We opened Amsterdam in April, Brussels in June. The Hauts-de-France region and the Benelux are very important for LATAM.

We held workshops in Lille and all travel agencies were of course interested.

I’d also like to add, on the novelty side, what we are doing in South America. New destinations we will open or have already opened.

The idea is to offer the largest possible domestic and regional network. To this end, we signed an order with the Embraer aircraft manufacturer that will supply smaller airplanes with capacities of 150 or even 100 seats.

We will operate from São Paulo, Brasilia, Curitiba, Porto Alegre. We will build an even stronger mesh, offering the largest possible domestic network.

We operate almost 60 destinations in Brazil and over the next two years we will reach nearly 100 destinations in Brazil.

And this will be possible thanks to these well-adapted modules that will also allow us to optimize frequencies, by scheduling a flight in the morning and one in the evening. More agility therefore, and this is also very interesting for the French market.

*This opening to Amsterdam along with the strengthened partnership with Delta reinforces the idea that LATAM, which left the OneWorld alliance, could join SkyTeam