United Airlines sees deal soon with three carriers

DENVER: United Continental Holdings Inc is eyeing joint ventures with three Latin American carriers in the near future, but a deal would not immunise the US airline from the “ups and downs” of the region’s volatile market, president Scott Kirby said. “I think we will get it done in the not so distant future, but hard to predict an exact time,” he said. “All of the turmoil in Latin America makes things complicated.”

United, the third-largest US passenger carrier, is trying to finalise joint-venture agreements with Colombian airline Avianca Holdings, Panama’s Copa Airlines and Brazil’s Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras.

Such deals would improve connectivity between the US and Latin American aviation markets and create growth opportunities, he told reporters on the sidelines of the International Aviation Forecast Summit here.

Latin American airlines have experienced a turbulent few years with increased competition in Mexico putting some of its carriers under pressure while dominant regional economy Brazil plunged into a once-in-a-generation recession that it has struggled to recover from.

Kirby also told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that United is looking to add lie-flat beds in business class in 2020 on some of its Boeing 737 MAX 10 narrow-bodies that would fly domestic routes. — Reuters