Rolim Amaro

Captain Rolim Adolfo Amaro (born September 15, 1942 at 4:00 PM in Pereira Barreto, state of São Paulo), known as "Comandante Rolim," was a Brazilian pilot and airline owner and founder of TAM Airlines.

At 21 he became a pilot for a new regional airline known as Taxi Aereo Marilia. The company began its operation in 1961 with the alliance of 10 young pilots. At the time they transported cargo and passengers between Parana, São Paulo and Matto Grosso.

After six years in the company, Amaro left Taxi Aereo Marilia. At the same time it was sold to businessman Orlando Ometto, its headquarters moved to São Paulo, and the company profile changed when it became a parcel carrier.

Upon leaving the company Amaro, being at ease with personalized service became an independent pilot. He bought his first airplane (a Cessna 170, with capacity for 03 passengers), and moved with his family to Araguaia (MS), where he began his first business project, and founded ATA (Araguaia Transportes Aereos). Two years later, the company had 15 airplanes.

Captain Amaro’s reconciliation with TAM takes place in 1971, when Orlando Ometto asks him to become minority partner owning 33% of the stocks. At the time the company was going through a difficult financial period, and was only transporting 3,000 passengers. The following year Captain Amaro acquired half of the TAM stock, and took over management of the company. He introduced his trademark and began practicing his primary philosophy: “Focus on the client by offering quality service”.

In 1976 TAM – Transportes Aereos Regionais emerges, recognized today as TAM Linhas Aereas. By then Captain Amaro owned 67% of the new company, servicing São Paulo, Parana, and Mato Grosso. Already known for its quality service, TAM is distinguished that first year, while domestic aviation was growing 15% a year, TAM was registering an increase of 70% every six months.

Captain Amaro takes full control of the company’s stock. The year 1979, and the decade to follow, turned out to be the period of growth and consolidation that put TAM at a new operational level. The changes began with the arrival of the Fokker-27’s, replacing the bi-motors. In 1981, TAM reached the sum of one million transported passengers. The first big consolidation in routing came when in 1986 TAM acquired Votec Airlines. Because of this, TAM extended its activities to the Central, Eastern and Northern parts of the country, and began to link Brazil’s main airports using Congonhas as the company hub.

Some of Captain Amaro’s most notable initiatives are introduced in 1989. For example: his presence at the airplane entrance welcoming the company’s passengers, and the unmistakable red carpet at boarding (The Magic Red Carpet). At other times, he could be found at the check-in counter personally assisting TAM passengers. The following year with the arrival of the Fokker-100 aircraft TAM becomes more eminent, and a new aviation era begins with the use of modern and comfortable jets offering a high level of transportation for regional travel.

TAM takes a series of measures to better serve the company’s passengers like the creation of the “Fale com o Presidente” Department (Speak with the President), where passenger doubts, complaints and suggestions are processed.

In 1993, TAM launches its frequent flyer program “Fidelidade”, a pioneer amongst Brazilian carriers. One differential the Fidelidade plan offers, when compared to other programs, is that there are no limitations on the number seats available for prize tickets.

In 1996, TAM initiates operations that will serve the whole national territory. It concentrates its operations on the major capitals and implements a direct flight philosophy. That same year two strategic and daring actions are taken by TAM, with the purchase of LAPSA from the Paraguayan government and the creation of TAM Mercosur. The objective was to strategically place the growing group in the forefront of operations serving the Southern Cone.

The second initiative is responsible for a new stage in the company’s history. In conjunction with a partnership formed by Lan Chile and Taca, TAM leads negotiations to purchase Airbus airplanes that will guarantee additional comfort, space, and advanced technology. The result is the purchase of 150 airplanes for this group of airlines from the European consortium. Another strategic initiative is the purchase of 158 acres in Sao Carlos; a São Paulo suburb. This area would become the home of TAM’s Technological Center, where three years later significant maintenance of the company’s aircraft would begin.

In 1999, TAM fulfills another dream that brought the company to a new level. TAM begins to operate international flights from São Paulo to Miami. The following year the first European flight to Paris, in alliance with Air France begins. To further facilitate passenger travel, TAM launches electronic ticketing, known as the E-Ticket, another pioneer move within Brazil for TAM.

In 2000, TAM commences an aggressive growing phase that includes the expansion of its fleet and the increase of its offer. The following year TAM begins service to Buenos Aires and Frankfurt.On July 08, 2001, Captain Rolim Adolfo Amaro dies in a tragic helicopter accident. [http://www.tam.com.br]

When Rolim Adolfo Amaro died in a helicopter crash in "Fortuna Guazú", 38 kilometers from the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero; the initial surprise was followed by a flood of anecdotes and stories about the man and his exploits as an innovator in Brazilian aviation. In Latin America his name was almost synonymous with flamboyance and overwhelming capacity for work enterprise [www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010717/ai_n14409359] .

Amaro, whose business cards introduced him to every passenger on his planes as "Comandante Rolim", took a small provincial air-taxi company bought with his pilot's wages and borrowed cash, and turned it into Brazil's most profitable airline. As Brazil's two traditional brand names, VASP and Transbrasil, ran into financial difficulties, Rolim's TAM (Transportes Aereos Mercosur) was, at the time of his death, a close rival in domestic transport to Brazil's flagship airline Varig, and a growing regional competitor to everybody else in the region. "Captain Rolim", a chubby-faced, balding man with an almost permanent smile on his face, got his commercial pilot's licence in 1963, and he became an airline pilot the following year. On all home routes he was the most prominent presence among the crews and staff at local airports, a man with an overpowering ego.

He was known for flaunting airline rules, often carrying goods required urgently elsewhere or taking on sick passengers who had no tickets but who needed treatment in other cities. That kind of populism won him a string of honours in several provincial cities where he was later made a "freeman" by local authorities. Amaro was also outrageously politically incorrect, surrounding himself with a Hefner-like team of attractively uniformed young women. The anecdotes about his life were legion. One, quite recently, had him travelling through Brazil and Uruguay on his Harley-Davison motorcycle, with not a single identity document in his possession, a prerequisite in bureaucratic South America. He told an immigration official in Argentina, where he was finally turned back, that his personality was sufficient identification.

At other times he produced a magazine cutting that had declared him sixth in a ranking produced by a survey to find the "entrepreneurs of the 20th century" in Brazil. His TAM company started to expand south of Brazil into the regional market cities of Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Asuncin in the Nineties, at one stage virtually becoming Paraguay's only airline connecting with the region and the world beyond. Amaro argued that he was not interested in undercutting other airline fares, but gave all passengers a "Red Carpet Treatment" that came with his personal charm. He would fly his own planes and spend a journey with his passengers. In March, 2001, he inaugurated a new four- flights-a-day service between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, an innovation that alarmed other more established carriers.

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