Everything is relative The truth is, Brazilian airlines don't really care much about their customers. While some might cite Varig as one of the worst examples, my personal "worst airline" was the long-departed VASP. Now that was a joke with wings.

I agree the TAM in-flight staff can be cheery and helpful, but don't expect much help when you have a problem before boarding the plane. Unfortunately, customer service in Brazil--not just for airlines, but for just about everything--is truly horrible. In just about any industry service people seem to lack the necessary education and training, and don't have the responsibility or authority to set things right. That's just the Brazilian way. Of course, this is a country that allowed its air travel system to implode just a couple of years ago.

I live in Brazil. I put up with customer service nonsense daily. It's not an easy country in which to function. (To digress a little, it just took me one month, seven phone calls and three personal visits to my bank to change my account from one branch to another. And along the way all my credit cards were mistakenly cancelled, new cheques issued with the wrong name, a few thousand reais mysteriously disappeared from my account for a week or so, etc. That's something that can be done efficiently in a few minutes in some countries).