Obstacles against the development of a thriving regional airline industry in Latin America in many respects look as formidable as ever. Lack of capital availability, inadequate airport infrastructure, government interference and a lack of open-skies treaties between nations continue to hinder progress in a region that, in terms of sheer size, holds as much potential for growth as any other in the world. Recently, however, signs of progress have focused increasing interest south of Key West, Fla., prompting forecasters to issue some comparatively sanguine projections for both the Caribbean and Latin America in general.
Still, attitudes over the prospects for meaningful advancement of commercial aviation in Latin America range between extremes, as evidenced during Commercial Aviation Group’s 10th annual Latin American & Caribbean Aviation Conference, held October 10 and 11 in Miami. From the perspective of an eternal optimist, former Braniff executive and long-time Latin American aviation consultant Robert Booth proclaimed “the best is yet to come.” Unimpressed, Aviation Capital Group vice president of marketing Mark Shaw countered that the Latin American environment “is about as bad as it can get,” adding that “it’s as good as it’s going to be for a while.”
