LATAM Airlines Group is considering establishing a de-facto low-cost carrier subsidiary, LATAM Airlines Chief Financial Officer Ramiro Alfonsin has disclosed.
"This is definitely an idea that we have looked at and will continue to look at, I would not discard it at the present moment," Alfonsin said during a 4Q17 earnings call this week.
LATAM has come under unit-revenue pressure in South America with the advent of low-cost carrier competition in its key Chilean, Argentine, Peruvian, and Colombian markets. Although it has avoided developing a stand-alone low-cost carrier brand, LATAM has adopted low-cost carrier practices in the form of a buy-on-board service and branded fares all of which have now been rolled out in Chile, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia.
During the same call, Alfonsin also confirmed LATAM would convert one B767-300(ER) into a freighter during 2019.