LATAM: My take on LAN & TAM’s proposed tie-up

At this point pretty much everyone already had something to say about LATAM, the new proposed holding which is to combine LAN and TAM, in effect creating one of the world's leading airline groups (in both, number of passengers and revenue). I guess it's time I had something to say too, after all this 'merger' is set to shake the civil aviation industry in South America in quite a spectacular way.

But first of all, let's get some things straight: there seems to be lot of discussion on quite a number of points and as LATAM's own site site states (www.latamairlines.com), right now anything we say or discuss is nothing but a hunch as the proposed combination still is a 'plan' (as per LATAM's own words) - one we can all agree on, will most certainly go ahead.

Now, given that this subject is rather long, I've decided to divide my posts according to topics - to be released one at a time. Here are the points I will cover:

1. Merger or acquisition?
2. LATAM: Star Alliance or Oneworld? Or both?
3. What can customers (B2B & B2C) expect in terms of benefits from this proposed tie-up?
4. New market niches opening up for LATAM?
5. The competition and LATAM: threats & opportunities
6. Timing: was this really the right time for LAN and TAM to join forces?
7. Final considerations

Last but not least, I would like to know if there's anything in particular which you dear reader might want to know about LATAM. There's always something that hasn't been discussed and I would be happy to put these issues under a magnifying glass here. If there's anything you might want to see discussed here, please feel free to contact me either via email at marcelo.debiasi@saospotting.com or via Twitter @MarceloDeBiasi.

The first topic is finally up. Check it out HERE. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading my comments as much as I did putting them down on paper! As always, comments, suggestion and critics are most welcome.