TAM: 35 Years of Aviation History

Every night the Amaro brothers, Rolim and João, methodically registered their Cessna flights into a notebook. It was the early 1960s and the two young pilots flew whatever needed transporting in the Brazilian Amazon. When the air taxi company they worked for was bought by a businessman in 1967, things quickly changed. Headquarters were soon established in Sao Paulo and the road was paved for the birth of the largest passenger airline in Latin America.

Táxi Aéreo Marília, where Rolim and João got their start, later became TAM Linhas Aéreas under Rolim’s leadership. This year, Brazil’s flagship airline turns 35, flying to 45 destinations within Brazil and 18 destinations throughout Europe the United States and South America.

Originally flying Cessnas and Fokkers, today the Star Alliance member has a fleet of 150 + aircraft, 95 percent of which are Airbus. At the center of TAM’s growth from its inception to his untimely death in 2001 was “Comandante Rolim Amaro,” who took special pride in greeting passengers as they made their way up the red carpet-lined boarding ladder, a TAM signature still in place today.

TAM historically led many industry ‘firsts’, including launching the region’s first A330, introducing the latest in-flight entertainment and communications technology, as well as testing alternative fuels to reduce environmental impact. But perhaps no milestone had a greater impact to the region’s aviation sector than the legendary 1998 joint-order placed by TAM, LAN and TACA for a total of 90 single-aisle aircraft with options for a further 90. Still the largest contract ever signed in Latin American commercial aviation history, it helped catapult the modernization of aviation in the region.

The future remains bright for TAM as they will be first to fly the eco-efficient A320neo in Latin America and are in the process of merging with LAN to become LATAM, one of the world’s largest airlines and among Airbus’ top five customers.

To all these and many more firsts, Happy Anniversary TAM!

For more information contact:
Liana Sucar-Hamel
Communications Manager, Airbus Latin America & Caribbean
liana.sucar-hamel@airbus.com