I love heated discussions like this one...
Now, just as 777 said, replacing the 767's depends on future demands and none of my contacts mentioned a replacement program. The 767 is known to be the work horse of the LAN fleet, I have my doubts it will be replace anytime soon.
I kinda disagree with 7Q on a few points: The gob's neither in Brazil nor in Argentina limit nor controls the regional nor national fares. Additionally, on both sides, in ARG and in BRA, the domestic market is huge and there is still a very big and growing demand in S. America in general as all of the countries were not hit as hard as Europe or us in N. America by the financial crisis. One sector particularly is standing out for its expansion, the Cargo Sector.
The "rotation" of airplanes, the use of foreign registered aircraft in domestic or flag operations is what I assume you refer to, should not be an issue. You require another aircraft for your Ops, you certify it within a week or 10 days tops. Does it affect "flexibility", it might, but if the demand is there, self-loading-cargo will fly when the plane leaves, of course you tailor it so it is more comfortable for them. And as it is not s well kept secret to the aviation world, LAN isn't that much after PAX, but Cargo is the cream for the pie here. So I am pretty sure that there are a lot more things going on in the background that we don't even know about when it comes to the business end of the aviation industry and mergers associated with it.
Personally, I see the real problem why LAN Argentina not expanding is that it just became to expensive for LAN. And yes, there are still hundereds of Pilots in Argentina on the street, and yes, companies are picking some up, but most of them are younger, less experienced aviators for FO jobs. You might wanna ask some Aerolineas Caps about, I chatted with one a few days ago and he listed at least 55 Capts between the age of 45 to 60 he personally knew who do things like waiter tables or taxi driver in Bueno Aires (mind you, a few years back on an EZE trip I was sitting in the back of a cab talking to my FO about flying. At a stop light the cabbi turns around and asks me if we're pilots, turns out he was the ex-fleet chief of don't-remember-which in Aerolineas Argentinas, so much for that).
Now, concerning the peanuts and Unions, face reality, we've become button pushers and lazy bums. Flying a Jet 20 Years ago, when I was young and sexy (Now I'm just not young anymore
) we used to get paid double of what we make today, and yes, we had more "rest time". But if you don't like your reality, change it, that means, do something else like supervise construction, manage in the the food industry, open a bar or if you wanna make the big bucks flying, I recommend India and China. Living and Working conditions suck, but hey, it's US$15000.00 in your pocket each month... Otherwise, take what you have and suck it up...
If I am right for who you are, you might know yourself how long it took for you to get into the right seat of a jet airliner, now they are practically giving the seat away in Corn Flakes Boxes to guys who a) don't care about flying and only the paycheck and b) have an attitude about it. And yes, there should be a pay raise for the work that is done down there to attract more qualified personnel. That won't happen anytime soon, so this will go bad some day, believe me. I just hope no one on board is who I know so I can skip out on going to a funeral...
Why would LAN ARG only fly to Brazil? It's a bigger world out there,you know, and there are two directions that still need to be explored, and LAN knows it: The eastern Pacific and (ta-daaaa) Southern Africa. That is were my bet with LAN Argentina comes into play...
Well, so much for now... gotta get my bags ready for my trip to Vancouver, it's cold up there...
Happy Landings...