Gol seeks ties to American, United after split with Delta

Bloomberg

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Brazil’s largest airline, is holding talks about expanding ties with American Airlines Group Inc and United Airlines Holdings Inc after parting ways with longtime US partner Delta Air Lines Inc.
The carriers are discussing whether to establish codeshare deals, which enable airlines to book passengers on each other’s flights, Gol chief financial officer (CFO) Richard Lark said. That would be a step up from Gol’s existing interline agreements with American and United, which allow airlines to handle passengers on trips that involve multiple carriers.
“We are in discussions with both United and American about converting those interlines into codeshares, and we may have both of those as codeshare partners,” Lark said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters.
An agreement could be reached with one or both of the US airlines “over the next couple of months,” he said.
Gol is eyeing deeper ties with American and United after Delta said in September that it would sell its stake in the Brazilian airline and buy 20% of Latam Airlines Group SA. An expanded relationship with Gol would be especially beneficial to American, which was left without a South American partner after its proposed partnership with Latam ran into legal trouble and prompted the Chilean company to join forces with Delta.
United already has a partnership with Azul SA, the third-largest domestic airline in Brazil after Gol and Latam. United holds an 8% stake in Azul and is is also in talks to form a joint venture with Avianca Holdings SA and Copa Holdings SA.
American said it didn’t have “anything to confirm at this time.” United declined to comment. Delta has not indicated when or how it intends to sell its Gol stock, Lark said.
The US carrier owns a 9% stake, according to Gol. The Sao Paulo-based company isn’t discussing deals in which American or United would take equity stakes in Gol, he said.
“The company doesn’t have a need for any financing from that source,” Lark said.
Gol’s fleet is made up entirely of Boeing Co 737 jets, and the airline has been hurt by the March grounding of the planemaker’s Max models following two deadly crashes. Gol expects the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to clear the aircraft to fly next month with Brazilian regulators following suit soon afterward, Lark said.
Gol anticipates returning the planes to service in January, he said.
That’s a more optimistic outlook at American, United and the Max’s largest operator, Southwest Airlines Co, which have all removed the model from their flight schedules through early March.
Even after the FAA lifts the flying ban, regulators would still need to sign off on updated training materials for pilots in January, Boeing said.
Gol has also taken some older 737 NG models out of service after regulators ordered inspections of the so-called pickle fork, part of the structure that helps attach the wings.
The company’s fleet has been more affected than average by the pickle-fork issue, in part because of conditions at Brazilian airports that include shorter runaways and a different type of asphalt, Lark said.
Gol leased the aircraft from third parties and not from Boeing, which customises planes for specific conditions.
Those factors, combined with Gol’s operational model of intensive use of the planes, led to 11 jets being taken out of service, Lark said. About 9% of Gol’s fleet of 125 aircraft has been affected by the pickle-fork inspections, according to the company.