Photo - Aero Icaro via Flickr
It's been 18 years that the A330 was introduced in the country making history with his arrival in São Paulo, specifically at Congonhas airport in 1998, an event that brought together all the national press at the time and stopped the airport, which by today's standards it is too small for this type of aircraft.
With his arrival in times when commercial aviation was very expensive and inaccessible to many, TAM promised competitiveness, technology and security with an aircraft never used in the country by a Brazilian company before. In periods where Varig and VASP dominated the market with tradition and luxury, TAM sought its place in the national scene and he was already a company with the ability to compete with other larger, even more ancient, being voted the best regional World Airline at the time and getting international fame.
Photo TAM disclosure in the 90s for the Fokker 100. Photo by - TAM
The major milestone was not only the beginning of international routes operated by TAM, at the time it was expected that the proportion of its fleet of Fokker 100 and the recent order of the Airbus A320, which entered the route network in 2000.
The A330 was something entirely new, significantly similar in March to 767 when he arrived at Transbrasil fleet in the 1980s, as well as the 747-400 Varig. It was a totally modern aircraft, launched years earlier, incorporating the supreme avionics technology for the time, with a state-of Fly By Wire system, side-stick in place of the joystick and entertainment system with individual screens, something only found on the Boeing 777 Varig.
In addition they officially took TAM regional company level to an international level company with early routes to the US and Europe.
A350 brand's new focus on innovation in TAM Brazilian aviation. Photo - Airbus
Currently, TAM is introducing in its route pioneered the Airbus A350, currently this is the most advanced aircraft passengers in its category, until the arrival of Boeing 777X. But the story also repeated with the Blue, consolidating the company in the international arena have selected an entire fleet of A330s to its international routes while the A350 does not come, but it is expected that she still receives her first A320neo this year, should not occur delays.
The Ejet, with the ATR, was extremely important for the Blue, to date the company has received nearly 90 units of this aircraft.
With a large area and public acceptance, the Blue raised the level of competitiveness and comfort with routes out of its main hub in São Paulo, in Viracopos, which for domestic routes using the famous Embraer Ejet with the ATR for airports with lower demand, aircraft directed to the regional market. That way we can compare when TAM used the famous Fokker (F-100 and F-27), which according to the growth and demand were making room for the A320 aircraft was also chosen by the Blue to be the main device used in Domestic routes with higher demand.
Similarities aside, we know that every company works with its philosophy and way to meet their customers, but we see that TAM has made room for other companies to reach a high level, without fear of the tradition of the oldest companies, making the Brazilian had greater opportunities for choice and that today companies like Blue and Avianca to consolidate the market with a wider range of routes and diversification of prices, and of course, most offer treats to win customers.
