Originally posted by Dawoz:
Well this is just a guess... but many of the South American countries are very "primitive" to say the least.
Without wanting to get into an argument on this, "primitive" is a relative term. Standards of living are clearly lower than in Europe and the US, on average, but the range is very wide. Most first-time visitors to Chile are very surprised at how un-primitive it is.
It has to be difficult to find a 777/747/737 pilot/mecanic/crew that is qualified that would want to live down there.
I would immagine they are paid top dollar and that is passed on to the consumer.
I'm not sure what this comment refers to. Every Latin airline employs local talent, hence there is no need to pay "top dollar" to entice foreign crews. I have not heard of any local airline's expansion plans being limited by lack of local pilots or mechanics.
As far as foreign airlines, I am not aware that they pay crews depending on destination (hazard duty, as it were). Some (at least UA and AA) have crew bases here, with both local and foreign cabin crews.