GOL Chief Executive Says Brazilian Airline Eyeing Diversified Fleet

GOL Linhas Aéreas CEO Celso Ferrer expressed confidence in the Brazilian airline’s future nine months after emerging from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, saying the carrier’s newfound stability allows it to consider diversifying its fleet.

Speaking March 3 at the Routes Americas 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, Ferrer said being part of Abra Group provides a path for the all-Boeing-737 operator to add new aircraft types. Abra formed in 2022, combining Colombia’s Avianca and LCC GOL. Abra also includes Spanish wet-lease all-Airbus-A330 operator Wamos Air.

GOL, which has more than 140 737s in its fleet, was reluctant to consider new aircraft types while working through Chapter 11, a process that ended with Abra as the carrier’s top shareholder with an 80% stake.

The view during the Chapter 11 restructuring was “we want to make this process the simplest as possible,” Ferrer said. “We wanted our investors to understand our financial model. So we said let's keep it simple. Let's keep the single fleet type … and operate what we know how to operate without any new challenges, and try to not introduce new risks into the business plan.”

But post-Chapter 11, Abra opens new fleet possibilities for GOL, Ferrer said. Abra has a big orderbook, so assigning new aircraft types to GOL is a strong possibility.

In October 2025, Abra added 50 A320neo aircraft to its orderbook for a total of 138 A320neo family aircraft scheduled for delivery by 2032. It additionally has five A350-900s and up to seven A330neos on order for delivery later this decade. The airline group also has 96 737 MAX aircraft on order scheduled for delivery through 2030.

Speaking in December at Abra’s year-end media briefing in Bogota, CEO Adrian Neuhauser said the group was seriously considering allocating some of the widebodies it has on order to GOL—even though the Brazilian carrier is a domestic and near-international focused operator with no current long-haul service to Europe.

“It’s no secret that we’re considering whether those [Airbus widebody] airplanes should operate in Brazil,” Neuhauser said. “If GOL were to fly widebodies and provide better service to its customers, instead of requiring [Brazil-originating long-haul international] customers to connect in Colombia, passengers could have a direct option to the long-haul markets those aircraft serve that could be a better solution for the customer.”

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Ferrer told the Routes Americas audience the carrier could add an Airbus “widebody fleet … but also [aircraft] from other manufacturers and other fleet types.”

He added: “It's easier to take the risk of a new fleet type [as part of Abra Group] with 300 planes flying in different markets. All of the analysis that we used to do [regarding moving to a new fleet type was focused on] how much risk do we take? How much new value are we bringing in? The answer is much easier now, because if we start to deploy a new type here in Brazil, and it doesn't work, we probably have another 10 options to deploy that fleet inside the group.

“Avianca has a huge presence in many of the Central American markets. They have connectivity there. They have Bogota, which is huge, and we have Brazil. So we are looking at a broader perspective and looking for market opportunities, no matter where they are. If there is an opportunity to launch a new fleet type in Brazil to explore XYZ market, we are going to do it.”

Ferrer said he believes the Chapter 11 process stabilized GOL and positioned it to be a strong competitor in South America’s largest air transport market.

Part of Ferrer’s confidence stems from the Brazil commercial aviation market in general, noting the long-discussed potential of the country’s growth in airline passengers may finally be starting to be realized. “As Brazilians, we say that Brazil is the country of tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes,” he said. “But my view is that we are starting to see a new wave of growth, and particularly because [airlines in the market] exited restructuring with a better capital structure.”

GOL rival Azul Brazilian Airlines emerged from its Chapter 11 restructuring in February, while LATAM Airlines Group exited Chapter 11 in 2022. LATAM Airlines Brazil, the pan-South American group’s affiliate in the market, has a leading 38% share of domestic seats in Brazil, followed by GOL at 33% and Azul at around 29%.

The Latin American airline market “is in a very good spot at this moment. We have more stability,” Ferrer said. “The world has become more unstable [while Latin America has gotten more stable]. So it's good to know investors are looking to Brazil. We see a lot of flows of investments coming to Brazil … showing confidence in the potential of the country. I'm not talking as a politician here. I'm just saying Brazil and the whole region, in relative terms, are now presenting a very good opportunity. And the Brazilian airlines are very well positioned to receive and attract those investments. This is a very good moment.”