The World's Worst AirlineA TAM plane crashed in Brazil Tuesday. I wasn't surprised.
Posted Thursday, July 19, 2007, at 5:03 PM ET
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StumbleUponTAM's Monty Python-esque bumbling is a function of being one of only a handful of competitors in the market and the general complacency of their regular customers. As we watched customers scrambling between the gate bound for Buenos Aires (marked "New York") and the gate bound for New York (marked "Buenos Aires"), it was unsurprising to find a woman in front of us in the middle of a nervous breakdown, screaming at a TAM attendant and crying hysterically. It was very surprising to find that no one else was screaming. If there were more efficient alternatives and a larger business class of travelers who considered air travel a necessity in a large country where driving to and from the largest cities is neither practical nor in some cases feasible, market pressure alone would precipitate some material changes.
But the larger problems can be attributed to the constraints under which Brazil forces TAM to operate. For example: We could have been delayed on three flights instead of six, as we would have skipped São Paulo entirely except for the fact that nearly every flight to a major Brazilian city from a major metropolitan area is compulsively routed through the largest city in the country. If you want to fly direct, it probably won't be on a Brazilian carrier. As it happens, the largest city's airport has the most infamously short runway. The runway at São Paulo is 6,362 feet long, 641 feet shorter than LaGuardia and too short for the pilot of Flight 3054 to land safely on a wet surface, which caused him to try to take off again with catastrophic results. This is normal procedure in São Paulo. Pilots are instructed to do it when the allotted stretch of runway doesn't suffice. To add to the risk, the runway was repaved in June, which may have resulted in the already dangerously short runway being dangerously slippery as well.
If you manage to make it safely onto or off of the runway, you still have to contend with Brazilian air traffic control, which is controlled by the Brazilian military, an increasingly disenfranchised institution that has resisted transition to civilian control, perhaps because in peacetime, it needs as many reasons to justify its existence as are available. Air traffic infrastructure is woefully out of date, and upgrading it, while ultimately necessary, is considered too expensive. The consequences of Brazil's patchy radar system were particularly apparent in September when a Boeing 737 operated by another major Brazilian airline hit a private jet over part of the Amazon, with 154 casualties—an event that was followed by an air traffic control strike because workers felt they were being unfairly blamed for the accident.
Brazilian air traffic control workers also complain about pay rates and a shortage of staff. An increase in either would mean more state expenditures, which the state has so far been unwilling to make.
The alternative, of course, is to force Brazilian air travel to conform to the limitations of the country's existing infrastructure. This would mean scheduling fewer flights, which would result in less revenue from tourism, which is increasingly responsible for the country's economic growth. State officials are not willing to do this either.
As long as the São Paulo runway stays too short, the air-traffic controllers stay underpaid and badly equipped, the market stays uncompetitive, and state officials stay in denial about the inevitability of more and worse accidents stemming from overcapacity in an already strained system, the likelihood that Tuesday's accident won't be, as news reports called it, "the country's worst air disaster" only increases. And however gorgeous it is, I won't be heading back to Brazil anytime soon.
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Remarks from the Fray Editor:
Reader response was overwhelmingly negative to this article. Elizabeth Spiers responded to her critics in this thread. Many readers distinguished between the troubles of Brazil's travel infrastructure and the service quality of TAM, offering counter-anecdotes of good experiences with the airline.—G.A.
Remarks from the Fray:
When I saw there was an article suggesting TAM is the worst airline in the world, coming on the heels of the recent crash, I expected to hear about maintenance issues, previous close calls, poor training practices, or something else which would suggest that the crash was the result of systematic problems. Instead I read an article consisting entirely of anecdotes about poor route planning and customer service.
Customer service and safety are not the same thing. While both can suffer if there is a lack of money or poor administration, they can also be opposing concerns. Stopping a plane from taking off due to a possible mechanical issue inconveniences passengers, but it may prevent an incident. Similarly, matching bags to passengers, diverting or delaying in marginal weather conditions, and not installing extensive entertainment systems can improve safety at a customer service cost.
The complaints about the Brazilian airport authorities would affect any airline flying into Brazil, and many runways in North America are as short.
The causes of the crash will be uncovered, and if there are systemic problems at TAM which led to it, they will be discovered. But I think that the public isn't well served by articles which make accusations based on anecdotes.
--carolynthered
(To reply, click here.)
I always fly TAM and always had the best services. One time, TAM changed our flight from one airport to the other and they tried to contact us and couldn't. When we got to the airport we found out our flight was leaving from another airport. TAM provided all the assistance to make sure we got to the right airport on time for that flight and when we arrived in Congonhas there were several TAM agents to almost get us out of the plane and got our luggage and took us to Guarulhos to catch our flight back here. Now, that's customer service. Last year we're 10 minutes late to catch a Delta flight from Rio to Us and Delta agents did not allow us to board even though the plane was still sitting out there, probably because they had already given our seats to somebody else.
--viviane
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The reason that most TAM flights go through Sao Paulo is the same reason that most Delta flights go through Atlanta, American flights go through Dallas, and Continental flights go through Houston. That is their hub and that is where they pick up most of the clientele.
--bms
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I got married back in October, and we spent our two-week honeymoon in Brazil. It could have been a travel nightmare because we packed in a lot of different destinations . All of our seven flights on TAM were within five minutes of on time - I was very impressed.
I loved the comparatively lesser hassle of Brazilian security. I think it would have been easy to wander on to the wrong plane, but I loved that we didn't have to arrive two hours before the scheduled departure time to have all of stuff x-rayed. I found that liberating.
I also thought the flight attendants were extremely helpful to a couple like us who spoke really no Portuguese. I found it a little odd that all of the people behind the counter for every airline in every airport we landed in were women, but maybe that's a cultural thing.
Also - the writer didn't mention much about the planes themselves. Compared to planes in the U.S., I thought TAM's were uniformly newer, cleaner and more spacious. I also appreciated the free cachaca we enjoyed on more than one long flight.
If I ever go back to Brazil, I won't hesitate to book on TAM.
--Seu Jorge
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Having literally just flown TAM from New York to Sao Paulo, my experience was somewhat different than the author's. All of my six flights left no more than 15 minutes after scheduling and all arrived on time, as did all of our luggage. The lines were no different than any other international flight.
In New York, TAM was kind enough to accommodate my belated request that my party of four sit in the same row. In Sao Paulo, TAM's gate workers were kind enough to notice that we were traveling with a baby and bumped us to the front of the connecting line, a practice which was repeated for the return legs. TAM's flight attendants were even kind enough to remind passengers that reclining all the way back while the person behind was trying to eat was rude.
If TAM had problems, they were not evident to me. Brazil has problems, however, most notably that one must fly through Sao Paulo to get anywhere else in Brazil and that U.S. citizens need a visa. But those are actually George W. Bush's fault, as Brazil has enacted these measures in retaliation for Bush's treatment of Brazilians. Neither situation applied during Clinton's term. And Brazil's internal labor and traffic control problems are well documented, neither of which affected my flights.
--Rebelde
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