Azul hopes to reach pre-pandemic levels in the second half, says CEO John Rodgerson

John Rodgerson said: "We had to make difficult decisions to keep us going, but we hope that the company will soon be better than in 2019. Before the crisis, we had one of the highest revenues in the world"

May. 24, 2021

In a special participation in the second edition of the TC Day event, organized by TC - the largest intelligence platform in the financial market in Latin America -, Azul CEO John Rodgerson commented on the progress of the pandemic and the recovery expectations of the Brazilian airline industry . He also said he expects to reach the second half of the year with pre-pandemic revenue levels.

With recent experience abroad, Rodgerson states that, with the vaccine, the USA is returning to normal, with full airports and great movement - and expects the same for the Brazilian economy. “It is a matter of weeks and months, not years. Brazil is going to rock like the US is, too. We expect to recover in less than two years, ”he declared.

The businessman also said that Azul is one of the few airlines that is remaining stable in the pandemic and that, recently, it changed the fleet of planes to increase efficiency and cut costs. "We had to make difficult decisions to keep us going, but we hope that the company will soon be better than in 2019. Before the crisis, we had one of the highest revenues in the world," he said.

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Rodgerson stressed the importance of the team at this time and the potential for expanding services in Brazil “Any business is people. We have the best people in the world in the company and that is why we are winning. Brazil is bigger than the Rio-SP-Brasília axis and has not yet reached all the potential it has to fly. We will come back better, because we have a different business model from other companies. We diversified the fleet and flew to small cities and other regions ”.

Regarding investments, the businessman highlighted the logistics sector as the next development target for the company, with Azul Cargo. "We have the ability to get to many places that others don't, so we have a big project and opportunities in logistics."

Asked about ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance - Translated from English - Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance), Rodgerson highlighted the actions that the company has been doing in Amazonas, with free transport of vaccines and the generation of jobs in the places where Blue arrives. The businessman ended by speaking with an optimistic message: “You can't grow and walk faster looking to the side, that's why we keep looking ahead. That way, we’ll get there faster. ”