Brazil - What do frequent flyers want from President Dilma?

Since President Dilma will assume office together with our new Brazil forum it might be interesting to discuss what FlyerTalkers most want from her administration?

We might just manage to communicate with some of the people who can change policy.

A better exchange rate since I'm still paid in US$!!! :D

As far as I can deduce Lulu da Silva actually runs Brazil and will do for many years to come.

Ask him. :cool:

Dymatiting GIG and GRU airports should be on BOTH their agends - and fast!

Worn out 1960s does not work in 2011.

A better exchange rate since I'm still paid in US$!!! :D

Perhaps its more realistic to ask the policy makers in the US to make sure their Greenback doesnt continue to lose value vs. the rest of the world currencies...? ;)

Perhaps its more realistic to ask the policy makers in the US to make sure their Greenback doesnt continue to lose value vs. the rest of the world currencies...? ;)

According to a forecast I just read today, the dollar is expected to gain in 2011, mainly because the economist feel that the U.S. economy will fare better than those in Europe and some Asian countries.

I get the feeling after a couple of weeks here that the Real is the strongest currency in Latin America, and will continue to increase against the USD due to the genuine productivity and better conditions here.

Only a gringo's observation, but my hunch is the like the $A it will keep getting stronger all 2011, from today's rate.

The $A is today stronger than $US and only a few years back was HALF. Ouch I remember it well. :td:

Glen

My demands are meagre - no major infrastructure projects, no turning the world's financial system on its head.

I'd simply like the new president to instruct Infraaero to give the Airport Bus service in Sao Paulo to Real Onibus, so that for what is essentially the same service that they provide in Rio for R8 we wouldn't have to pay the R30 that the current service provider at Guarulhos charges! Better yet get ShuttleRio to run the whole thing - they can provide a premium door-to door service in Rio for just R15.

And while she's at it she could get them to take over the Airport Train service in Sydney and Brisbane as well ;)

fix the a/c at gig once and for all :eek:

I get the feeling after a couple of weeks here that the Real is the strongest currency in Latin America, and will continue to increase against the USD due to the genuine productivity and better conditions here.

Only a gringo's observation, but my hunch is the like the $A it will keep getting stronger all 2011, from today's rate.

The $A is today stronger than $US and only a few years back was HALF. Ouch I remember it well. :td:

Glen

Is it not odd that oz and br are riding the same commodity wave thanks largely to China thus having overvalued currencies that may not change. At least oz has education, public health and decent infrastructure.

This is not serious, is it? The base of support for Dilma's Worker"s Party is the poorer classes. Those with enough money to travel internationally, even Brazilians, are probably not those most likely to support the PT (Worker's Party). Gringo travelers even less important, unless there's a big effect on tourism, and, thus, the economy. Seems tourists will keep on coming in any event. And the government will need to spend a lot of money in order to keep the promises they made during the elecetion.

The central bank has actually been trying to stabilize exchange rates, though you can be sure it's for domestic reasons. No big infrasture projects? Brazil will be spending millions and millions on infrastructure to try to prepare for the World Cup and Olympics. As in most cases over the years, these events will likely end up costing more money than they bring in, but politicians love them.

We're not optimistic that Dilma will be able to effectively manage the economy. And Lula will be waiting to run again. It was interesting that the recent "60 Minutes" puff piece on Brazil and Lula contrasted the rampant inflation of the past with the relative stability of today. Clear implication was that Lula was responsible. But the super inflation that occurred was back in the mid-90s (I was working in Rio at the time), and was turned around by the plan of the then-Finance Minister, Cardoso (Lula's predecessor in the presidency). A BBC reporter, talking from the beaches of Rio, said it's always been difficult to be miserable in Brazil (he apparently has not been to the poorest areas of interior states, where tourists are much more scarce). A big question is whether Dilma, certainly not as strong a personality as Lula, will be able to withstand demands by the more radical wing of her party. Where we are, Fortaleza, the PT mayor has a poster of Che Guevara in her office. She isn't unique.

Dilma needs to continue to develop the middle class and lift people out of poverty. In turn, this reduces crime; poor people are often very angry people.

She will surely face a challenge to the level of what Obama is facing. Too high government spending, inflation, high interest rates, poor infrastructure, and still a primary two class society, a different situation to change, are staring her in the face. Along with pressure for 2014 Soccer World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

1. Bring back Pao de Queijo at GIG's Admirals club
2. An easier/faster way to get in/out of GRU
3. Have your luggage arrive at GIG without any missing items
4. Shorter and faster lanes at the Federal Police outbound check point
5. More tourist support upon arrival at GIG/GRU
6. Increase slots for Azul at Congonhas and Santos Dumond
7. GIG/GRU to LAX route
8. The return of the sax player by the arrivals duty free shop in GIG

Considering President Rousseff was just elected to office January 1st, 2011, I would let her catch her breath first.

Minister Tom Jobims ( not to be confused with composer Antonio Carlos Jobims ) tabled a number of improvement proposals for aviation and tourism under Lula.

I would suggest that the huge number of former Varig employees that lost everything including pensions, be compensated finally. This was at onetime a fine airline with good service I enjoyed flying to Brasil on, and the courts there have already decided in favour of Varig twice now I believe.

Imagine being a loyal employee for 40+ years, and then losing everything, pension and stock included. The government I understand bailed out the loan request for TAM, but not Varig.

Brasil certainly has the money today, if they can loan money to the IMF.

1. Bring back Pao de Queijo at GIG's Admirals club
2. An easier/faster way to get in/out of GRU
3. Have your luggage arrive at GIG without any missing items
4. Shorter and faster lanes at the Federal Police outbound check point
5. More tourist support upon arrival at GIG/GRU
6. Increase slots for Azul at Congonhas and Santos Dumond
7. GIG/GRU to LAX route
8. The return of the sax player by the arrivals duty free shop in GIG

#7 taken care of. Korean Airlines flies non-stop between LAX and GRU, though not every day, and not to GIG. Delta and Varig, and the now-defunct Vasp, Airlines all flew this route, but gave it up. Varig flew Manaus-LAX at one time.

I'm glad to know that Antonio Calos Jobims is not the new transportation minister, since he's dead. The current presidency is essentially a continuation of the past presidency-- she was hand-picked by Lula to run, and, some say, keep the seat warm until Lula can legally run again-- but she does undoubtedly have a lot on her plate. And why just pao de queijo in the Admiral's Club? Why not the Red Carpet Club? The last time we flew International Biz-First Class on Continental out of GRU, we were able to use United's Red Carpet Club, and while we got free snacks and drinks, we weren't allowed to use the showers (those are for United customers only, we were told). Hopefully that'll be taken care of by the United-Continental merger, but, if not, we can add that to Dilma's lsit. When we flew US Airways Envoy Class out of Rio, we were able to use showers in the combine VIP club accessible to passengers of a few different airlines.

" Dilma's Workers Party ? " Actually, it is more like her electorate.

According to O Globo, Dilma Rousseff became a member of the PT just a little over two years ago. There was quite a bit of well-known discussion about this in the local newspapers, including those in Fortaleza. The party membership goes with being hand-picked by Lula.

There is nothing wrong with a Che poster, or even a T-shirt. This is more of a political statement about respect for Latin America as an emerging world player, which it has long desired and certainly now become. Luizianne Lins is doing a good job in Fortaleza, and is well regarded there.

There is nothing wrong with a Che poster, or even a T-shirt.

Yes there is. Che was a communist mass murderer, who is being heroed on a very dubious background.

" Dilma's Workers Party ? " Actually, it is more like her electorate.

According to O Globo, Dilma Rousseff became a member of the PT just a little over two years ago. There was quite a bit of well-known discussion about this in the local newspapers, including those in Fortaleza. The party membership goes with being hand-picked by Lula.

There is nothing wrong with a Che poster, or even a T-shirt. This is more of a political statement about respect for Latin America as an emerging world player, which it has long desired and certainly now become. Luizianne Lins is doing a good job in Fortaleza, and is well regarded there.

Wow. Luzianne Lins is well-regarded by whom? Local papers have had many articles about her diving approval ratings, not in small part due to ongoing problems such as the lack of staffing of health posts, the state of the schools (including, now, many without teachers), the "buracos" (potholes) that never seem to get repaired properly, the perpetual problems when heavy rains hit, etc. (but always money for free festas). Many people do wear Che t-shirts as nothing more than pop culture symbols, or as statements as "Yeah, Latin America." Others strongly support Che as a symbol of much more, and continue to support Cuba in anything it does (Lula equated political prisoners in Cuba with the "bandidos" of old Sao Paulo). There was some controversy in Fortaleza when a local cultural center was named after Che (his daughter came to visit and complained about Cubans arrested as spies in the U.S. but did not mention the lack of human rights in Cuba). To be fair, Fidel Castro's image is not as good as Che's (it can help one's image, whether a revolutionary or movie star or other, to die young, especialy if seen as a martyr).

Dilma did take up arms against the Brazilian government, and helped rob banks, when it was ruled by a military dictatorship (which was definitely supported by the U.S., at the same time it supported dictatorships in Argentina and Chile, among other places). It remains to be seen just where her policies will be. For a while, at least, I thnk she'll go slowly and certainly not make any big departures from Lula's government. She did pointedly refuse to criticize the crackdown on the press in Venezuela, saying each country does things differently, but also made criticisms of Iran, for which an Iranian official recently criticized her. Vamos ver (we will see).

But back to the important matters at hand: I phoned the presidential palace and, to my surprise, reached the president herself. I relayed the above list of requests. She said she couldn't make any promises for now, but said she was fairly certain she could get the pao de quijo back into the Admiral's Club by the end of her term.

Good points Skoenig. Back to the issue at hand.

INFRAERO comes to mind more importantly than free Pao de Queijo in the Admiral's Club. ( They are better at the first floor level Balloon Bar near the entrance, but of course one has to pay for them there. That comment inserted by Carioca I believe was in jest).

INFRAERO may be working on World Cup & Olympics logistics, but it will take strong intervention from Brasilia to make effective and pragmatic changes.

The big potholes on Washington Soares are now gone. Someone is paying attention here after all these years. A luta continua.

Good points Skoenig. Back to the issue at hand.

INFRAERO comes to mind more importantly than free Pao de Queijo in the Admiral's Club. ( They are better at the first floor level Balloon Bar near the entrance, but of course one has to pay for them there. That comment inserted by Carioca I believe was in jest).

INFRAERO may be working on World Cup & Olympics logistics, but it will take strong intervention from Brasilia to make effective and pragmatic changes.

The big potholes on Washington Soares are now gone. Someone is paying attention here after all these years. A luta continua.

Read today that Dilma will have to make R$60 billion worth of cuts due to the deficit. Will be tough, with all the expenditures she's promised. Plus federal aid to flood victims.

Read today that Dilma will have to make R$60 billion worth of cuts due to the deficit. Will be tough, with all the expenditures she's promised. Plus federal aid to flood victims.

I am pretty sure that any president would be able to find money to a natural disaster as the one in RJ.