Whats behind all that...
Alright, I just wanted to add my mustard to the discussion and see where it ends:
LAN is hiring, but they are VERY picky. But as we all know, LAN is not LAN, there is Peru, then Chile, Ecuador, Argentina and last but now newest, LAN Colombia, cutely named LACO.
The minimum requirement for the entire holding has never changed: You have to read, speak, write and understand Castellano, if you like it or not. It's the official company language, so all you English-only 20000 hour 40-years of experience Captains, so sorry... Also, you need to pass the screening and psychological and psycho-technical evals, no way around those.
Lets start off with Peru:
LPE is expanding, very quickly. Rumor has it that out of the 50 Airbus A319's/320's and 321's ordered at the last Farnborough Airshow 22 will go directly to Peru. The requirement is 500 pilots within 5 years, 100 pilots per year. What do FO's require? Icao Comercial IFR, THATS IT! I mean, it's a joke, 250 hours no multi, and you get a shot at flying the right seat of an A320... Ok, not for everyone though, to work in Peru you require to be a citizen or at least a resident of the Andean Community, or CAN, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru. That's why LAN Peru was recruiting in Miami a few weeks ago, there are a lot of them in S. Florida. It's not an agreement of the Union much more a requirement of the state, the work ministry to be exact. Also, FYI, the reason why Spaniards are allowed to work in Peru dates back to an agreement of 1959 between Peru and Spain. As SpanAir and AirComet went belly up, the company saw an opportunity to recruit and took it.
Next stop; Chile:
The expansion Plans for LAN Airlines and LAN Express ended due to citizenship restrictions of the Chilenian Government, but with a former LAN Chairman at the helm, those rules have changed, a lot. The exact details are not known to me, but work authorizations will now be given on a case-by-case basis. For First Officers the minimums are as in Peru, CPL IFR only. The more experience you have the better, especially in jets for direct entry captains. Obviously, it will be almost impossible to get into LAN and Lan Express with only 250 hours and not being a citizen since there is a line of applicants, so don't keep your hopes up.
Lets jump to Argentina:
LAN AR is not doing very good. The union has too much political influenze, and if it were up to LAN I heard rumors of mid and upper level managers in Santiago that it might have been a mistake to go into Argentina. It might be possible that a new aircraft or two end up there, I highly doubt it though. If it were not up the the Unions there, Argentina would have the largest Long-Range Fleet of LAN as it is a very well situated strategic Place.
Ecuador is next:
LAN Ecuador has had a very interesting increase in demand the last two years, and their fleet is expanding too. 6 A319's and two A320's are supposed to go there. There is a demand for pilots, very slowly though.
Beautiful Colombia now:
Not really new, BUT still interesting. LAN purchase Aires for US$32.5 million. Thats a fact, what no one know is, whats next? LAN operated in and around Colombia flying Cargo, but Aires, an airline that began operations in 1981, which will be "d.b.a." LAN Colombia, is a different ball game. How they will operated, what equipment, destinations, personell etc... no one speaks about. Speculations are that the fleet of DASH-8's will be returned to the leasing agency, that also the 737's are going back to all be replaced with A-320 Family Aircraft, or that everything will continue. Time will tell the tale...
So much for now, I hope that will give everyone an update on things.
Happy Landings