Airline mergers have been credited for shaping the commercial airline industry to what it is today. Across the world, consolidation has led the industry to improved scale and profitability. In Europe, carriers like Air France and KLM have merged to create aviation giants with the assets and capabilities to create a profitable and reliable global network.
Meanwhile, in the United States, mergers between carriers like Delta and Northwest and United and Continental have formed some of the world's largest airlines. Despite its prominence in places like the United States in the past few decades, consolidation continues to be a trend in other parts of the world. In Brazil, Azul Linhas Aereas and GOL Linhas Aéreas have recently announced plans to merge, creating Brazil's largest airline and becoming an even bigger player in the South American aviation industry.
However, every merger has at least some negative consequences, and Azul's management warned of higher fares to come regardless of the intended merger. Latin American airlines are still hurting The COVID-19 pandemic, which reached the Americas in early 2020, nearly shut down the commercial airline industry across the world. However, according to Financial Times , many nations used government funds to give airlines extra cash to weather the storm in an attempt to ensure their survival until better times.
However, many Latin American countries did not provide funding for their carriers, making the financial strains even more s.
