Effective April and thru June 30th, GOL is suspending the following flights:

* G37654/55 between Fortaleza FOR and Orlando MCO. 3 weekly frequencies

* G37661/62 between Sao Paulo GRU and Santiago de Chile SCL. 6 weekly frequencies

* G37698/99 between Sao Paulo GRU and Quito UIO. 3 weekly frequencies

Quito won't see any other GOL flights during this time as well as losing direct service to Brazil.

Airline blames fleet shortages due to the MAX grounding and the retirement of part of the 73G fleet; these routes must be some of the most under performing ones.

Source - Distribution Systems

Delta has guaranteed a Gol loan. Maybe DL will escape without cost. As noted in the annual report:

Additionally, GOL has a $300 million five-year term loan facility with third parties maturing in 2020, which we have guaranteed. Our guaranty is secured by GOL's ownership interest in Smiles, GOL's publicly-traded loyalty program. Because GOL remains in compliance with the terms of its loan facility, we have not recorded a liability on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2019.

How were these suspended routes doing? Were they profitable?

A388

A388 wrote:

How were these suspended routes doing? Were they profitable?

A388

I don't think GOL (or any airline for the matter) would cut any route on where they make money.

dcajet wrote:

A388 wrote:

How were these suspended routes doing? Were they profitable?

A388

I don't think GOL (or any airline for the matter) would cut any route on where they make money.

They would if they could make more money flying that same plane somewhere else.

Opportunity costs.

Were they blocking seats on FOR-MCO on the NGs?

Surprised to see a GRU - SCL route not doing well.

NearMiss wrote:

Surprised to see a GRU - SCL route not doing well.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think they've come and gone on this route. it's not their 1st time suspending it.

NearMiss wrote:

Surprised to see a GRU - SCL route not doing well.

LATAM owns this route. It is not the first time GOL has cut back at SCL. In fact they already left once. With only 6x week they simply are not competitive for the business traveler.

Thibault973 wrote:

NearMiss wrote:

Surprised to see a GRU - SCL route not doing well.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think they've come and gone on this route. it's not their 1st time suspending it.

You are correct. This is their second try at SCL.

CURQ400 wrote:

dcajet wrote:

A388 wrote:

How were these suspended routes doing? Were they profitable?

A388

I don't think GOL (or any airline for the matter) would cut any route on where they make money.

They would if they could make more money flying that same plane somewhere else.

Opportunity costs.

Of course. Should have qualified the "make money".

gatibosgru wrote:

Were they blocking seats on FOR-MCO on the NGs?

Somebody correct me if this is wrong, but I think they make a tech stop en route with the NG. PUJ?

Just found the source (only in Spanish)

https://www.nlarenas.com/2020/02/gol-aj ... ago-quito/

MIflyer12 wrote:

Delta has guaranteed a Gol loan. Maybe DL will escape without cost. As noted in the annual report:

Additionally, GOL has a $300 million five-year term loan facility with third parties maturing in 2020, which we have guaranteed. Our guaranty is secured by GOL's ownership interest in Smiles, GOL's publicly-traded loyalty program. Because GOL remains in compliance with the terms of its loan facility, we have not recorded a liability on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2019.

As set forth in your quote of the DL annual report, the loan matures during this calendar year. If Gol repays the entire principal amount of the loan and all accrued interest on or before the date of maturity, DL's guaranty will simply cease to exist as a direct result of such repayment.

Are you concerned Gol might default or something? Do you have reason to believe these route suspensions might somehow result in a default of the loan?

Sad to see Ecuador lose their airlinks to Brazil. Really didn't expect the route to be cut that soon, but I guess a three-weekly operation about 5 hours long isn't that profitable or at least isn't for GOL. That route probably is much better suited for LATAM, but they have shown no signs of opening that route.

marcecar10 wrote:

Sad to see Ecuador lose their airlinks to Brazil. Really didn't expect the route to be cut that soon, but I guess a three-weekly operation about 5 hours long isn't that profitable or at least isn't for GOL. That route probably is much better suited for LATAM, but they have shown no signs of opening that route.

This is a temporary suspension, not permanent.

gatibosgru wrote:

Were they blocking seats on FOR-MCO on the NGs?

Flights to the US have to make a stop in PUJ. These US flights can’t be doing well 1 stop. They should suspend US services until the MAX returns, but maybe GOL has figured staying in the US market is better than calling it quits for now.


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MAH4546 wrote:

marcecar10 wrote:

Sad to see Ecuador lose their airlinks to Brazil. Really didn't expect the route to be cut that soon, but I guess a three-weekly operation about 5 hours long isn't that profitable or at least isn't for GOL. That route probably is much better suited for LATAM, but they have shown no signs of opening that route.

This is a temporary suspension, not permanent.

Ok, at least that's a relief but someone might now the motives about this suspension? Are those routes really not working? I understand SCL but UIO or MCO?

marcecar10 wrote:

MAH4546 wrote:

marcecar10 wrote:

Sad to see Ecuador lose their airlinks to Brazil. Really didn't expect the route to be cut that soon, but I guess a three-weekly operation about 5 hours long isn't that profitable or at least isn't for GOL. That route probably is much better suited for LATAM, but they have shown no signs of opening that route.

This is a temporary suspension, not permanent.

Ok, at least that's a relief but someone might now the motives about this suspension? Are those routes really not working? I understand SCL but UIO or MCO?

The airline blames it on fleet shortage issues that have come about due to the MAX grounding and the withdrawal of part of the 73G fleet. It is not necessarily that these routes are not working, just that other routes on the network are doing better

That said, I suspect flights from Brazil's NE to Florida are not a cash cow going into the Southern Hemisphere's winter. Similarly, Azul has suspended the Belem - Ft Lauderdale route from March to October. I don't think that Sao Paulo - Quito is a cash cow either, at 3x w.

dcajet wrote:

* G37661/62 between Sao Paulo GRU and Santiago de Chile SCL. 6 weekly frequencies

I suppose it would be difficult for GOL to compete with LATAM on this route with just 6 weekly 737.