Latin American Airline Benchmark – Overview and Contained Airlines
After initiating our new airline analysis series where we analyze the performance of leading airlines, we thought it is time to put data on a higher level. Therefore, we extracted some of the results and compiled them as a Latin American Airlines Analysis. Actually, that’s the fourth part, since we already published a similar report for leading European airlines, Middle East Carriers, and Europe’s low-cost airlines. So here’s what’s contained?
- We looked at the number of flights the airlines performed from February to July 2021.
- Moreover, we analyzed the on-time performance of each airline.
- And finally, we looked at the airlines’ cancellation rates.
Here are the airlines that are contained:
| Airline | IATA |
|---|---|
| Aeromexico | AM |
| Avianca | AV |
| Azul Airlines | AD |
| GOL Linhas Aereas | G3 |
| LATAM | LA |
| Volaris | Y4 |
Latin American Airlines – Overall Results
Flight Volume
Based on the flight volume from February to July 2021, LATAM wins the trophy of Latin America’s biggest airline. Moreover, LATAM is the only Latin American airline that operated more than 100,000 flights in that period. However, Brazil’s Azul ended very close to 100,000 (99,844). Accordingly, Azul wins the silver medal and ranks as Latin America’s second-biggest airline by flight volume.
The two Mexican airlines that are included in the benchmark (Aeromexico and Volaris) operated almost the identical amount of flights. Nevertheless, the low-cost carrier beats the flag-carrier by 1,653 flights: Volaris operated 72,776 whereas Aeromexico operated 71,123 flights.
With a flight volume of 51,662 flights, Avianca ranks as Latin America’s fifth-biggest airline, followed by GOL with 50,429 flights.
Punctuality
When looking at the average punctuality of Latin American airlines from February to July 2021, the results are slightly different compared to the flight volume. Let’s start with the most significant result: Both Mexican airlines achieved much weaker results than others. Volaris, on the one side, reported an average on-time performance of 78.2%. On the other side, Aeromexico was only slightly better and reported 81.4%
All other carriers achieved an on-time performance above 90%. GOL leads the list with the punctuality of 93.1%, followed by LATAM with 92.9% and Avianca with 92.3%. Azul Airlines is close behind the top 3 airlines and achieved an on-time performance of 90.9%.
Cancellations
When looking at the cancellation performance of Latin American airlines, the picture once again changes completely. Aeromexico, one of the Mexican airlines, wins the title of the most reliable airline. Aeromexico had to cancel only 0.3% of its flights from February to July 2021. Volaris, on the other end, canceled more than 5% of its flights and therefore ranked last.
Avianca and GOL achieved a cancellation rate below 1%, whereas LATAM Azul canceled more than 2% resp. 1% of their flights.
Latin American Airlines – Flight Volume Details
When looking at the monthly flight volume, it is interesting to see different patterns shaping up. On the one side, LATAM, Azul, and GOL recorded a reduced flight volume from February to April. However, afterward, the three carriers constantly (and sharply) increase their flight volume.
On the other hand, Aeromexico, Volaris, and Avianca recorded a steady growth from February to July. However, the growth rates are moderate compared to the ones LATAM, Azul, and GOL reported in June and July.
Data Details
If you want to dive into the details, here’s the underlying data of the above chart.
| Month | AM | AV | AD | G3 | LA | Y4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 9,337 | 7,307 | 16,961 | 10,034 | 18,559  | 10,927 |
| March | 10,617 | 7,095 | 17,049 | 7,858 | 18,241 | 9,830 |
| April | 11,352 | 7,412 | 12,914 | 4,819 | 14,077 | 12,541 |
| May | 12,555 | 8,515 | 15,032 | 6,828 | 17,153 | 12,906 |
| June | 12,713 | 10,089 | 17,233 | 8,206 | 20,094 | 12,701 |
| July | 14,549 | 11,244 | 20,655 | 12,684 | 26,543 | 13,871 |
Latin American Airlines – Punctuality Details
With an increasing number of flights, punctuality is also back in the spotlight for many airlines — and passengers. Therefore, we’ve analyzed the arrival on-time performance of the carriers in the corresponding months.
As already mentioned, the biggest Latin American airlines can be clustered into two punctuality classes. GOL, LATAM, Azul, and Avianca have constantly delivered a solid job. Although the on-time performance has slightly decreased from February to July, the four airlines are still in line with some top European airlines.
Volaris, on the other side, constantly hovered around an 80% on-time performance. Moreover, Aeromexico saw a constant and tremendous decline in its punctuality performance. After a solid 91% performance in February and March, Aeromexico reported a free fall to 83% in April and May and finally 73% and 65% in June and July.
Data Details
If you want to dive into the details, here’s the underlying data8 of the above chart.
| Month | AM | AV | AD | G3 | LA | Y4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 91.0% | 95.2% | 91.0% | 92.4% | 95.3% | 71.2% |
| March | 91.5% | 95.9% | 90.8% | 93.8% | 94.4% | 84.2% |
| April | 83.8% | 95.5% | 92.5% | 93.3% | 94.6% | 77.8% |
| May | 83.6% | 91.2% | 92.0% | 93.4% | 92.5% | 81.0% |
| June | 73.2% | 88.3% | 89.6% | 93.2% | 91.0% | 77.2% |
| July | 65.0% | 87.4% | 89.2% | 92.6% | 89.5% | 78.2% |
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Latin American Airlines – Cancellation Details
When looking at the cancellation rate of analyzed airlines, two significant aspects are apparent:
Volaris Struggled in February and March
Volaris seemed to have severe problems in February. As a result, the carrier had to cancel almost 22% of its flights that month. That’s a tremendous figure. Although the airline improved in March, Volaris still had to cancel 5% of its flights. However, Volaris managed to enhance its cancellation rate and ended with a solid 0.8% in July.
LATAM operates above the average
Compared to the other carriers, LATAM had to cancel more flights in most of the months. As a result, LATAM, on average, canceled more than 2% of its flights.
Data Details
If you want to dive into the details, here’s the underlying data of the above chart.
| Month | AM | AV | AD | G3 | LA | Y4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 1.1% | 22.0% |
| March | 0.1% | 0.3% | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2.8% | 5.0% |
| April | 0.5% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.8% | 2.4% | 1.7% |
| May | 0.1% | 2.8% | 1.1% | 0.2% | 2.6% | 0.4% |
| June | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.3% | 1.7% | 0.7% |
| July | 0.2% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 0.8% |
What Do You Think?
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Used Data
The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Rankings only included airlines that operated more than 300 flights in the respective month. Whenever stated, EMEA refers to airlines based in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa.
