LATAM and Boeing have reached an agreement to reduce orders for 787-9 and 777F aircraft pending delivery. According to documents from the South American carrier, the planemaker agreed to remove four Dreamliner aircraft and one freighter from the backlog, preserving only two 787-9 to be delivered in 2021.
Since July 2020 in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, LATAM has sought to reduce its aircraft fleet and renegotiate lease agreements to contain costs in the face of the effects of the pandemic.
One of the most crucial points of the strategy was the decision to end the operation of the A350-900 jets, the most modern of the airline and which were part of the fleet of the Brazilian division.
According to Planespotters, the LATAM group has 294 aircraft, 217 of which are currently active. The fleet of widebodies includes 22 787 (10 of the 787-8 and 12 of the 787-9), ten Boeing 777-300ER and 39 Boeing 767-300.
767 converted into freighters
The cancellation of the pending single 777F is not surprising. LATAM Cargo had taken four other freighters out of service in 2017 after concluding that the aircraft was too large for the airline’s flight network.
Instead, the company decided to convert part of its 767-300ER into cargo aircraft in a process managed by Boeing. Eight of these planes will be converted to the BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter) standard from 2022.
According to LATAM, at the end of the program, the company will have 19 cargo widebody aircraft that will expand capacity by 80%.
