Varig news
 

I think they'll get more cash if they start selling it off piecemeal. The airline has some equipment that other carriers would grab---routes too. If Varig isn't running well, put the airline out of its misery.

I will not cry a single tear once that airline finally goes under... Shame for South American connections on *A though...

You can follow the news on the Varig forum. From a *A perspective, though, it is a real problem, as huge chunks of South America will disappear the *A map if Varig goes down the pan.

I wonder if it's feasible (both in theory and in practice) for TAP to pick up some of Varig's routes inside Brazil and South America. TAP certainly was interested in acquiring Varig, but then they didn't bid for it in the second round. The whole situation is very confusing.

It is indeed a real problem for *A if Varig shuts down for good -- but both LH and LX have somewhat popular routes to South America (Brazil, Argentina and Chile), so the effect on the average business traveller going to South America may not be so huge after all...?

IMHO, Varig is dead. I saw the financials for the company, short of a miracle, I see no way to save it. If the judge has sense, he'll wait until Brazil wins its first game in the World Cup and pull the plug then. ;)

I think RG has been bringing less and less to :-: for some time and probably won't be missed all that much if they do go. Although it will be sad to see the first carrier who joined up after the original 5 vanish, *if* they do.

Why wouldn't I be all that worried if they went??
RG's hubs on the far east of the continent make for bad intra-SthAm connections/flying and their International routes are pretty much covered by other partners these days.
Even intra-SthAm between some of the more major points are
covered to a small extent by the partners - LH operates GRU-EZE,
LX does GRU-SCL, AC offers SCL-EZE & UA EZE-MVD.
I keep hearing mumblings about Grupo TACA being recruited
to fill the gap for the intra-SthAm flying - either as a direct RG
replacement, or as a new "regional" member.

I would go as far to say TACA's network would be much more convenient with more "direct" north-south flying as opposed to RG's current long backtracks to the east & they would certainly cover a Star gap of Central American flying as well.

The hubs are pretty well located if coming from Europe, and they are often the only * option if coming from the US.

That's a very small South-American network. And those routes are operated just once a day at less than optimal times. For better or for worse, RG was the only *A carrier flying to most points of South America, including major brazilian cities like SSA (actually TP does fly to SSA from Portugal, but that's of use only if coming from Europe). For *A members in South America, RG provided one of the best mileage redemption opportunities.

TACA would be a most welcome addition to *A, however their route structure has pretty much no overlap with Varig's. So they wouldn't be a feasible replacement, except for a couple specific routes like West Coast-LIM. One can always hope for TAM to become part of *A but it is a long shot.

As an Argentinean with family and friends in EZE and flying to both Argentina and Brazil often, the dissappearance of RG would likely force me to defect to 1W.

TA has its South-American hub in LIM, which is not served by any *A carrier except AC.
Without RG, most Brasilian cities are virtually inaccessible (except for a few served by TP, and only from LIS, hardly a convenient routing for many.
As pointed out by iwillflytheworld, many South-Am to South-Am connections on TA are difficult and take all day. Even North-South, connecting from NA to deep SA means a double change which also takes all day (i.e. leave the US very early morning to arrive middle of the night next day.
TA would indeed be a good addition to *A but in no way can they be seen as a suitable replacement for RG.
South-Am is primarily OW territory, followed, at some distance, by ST. *A offering is already not that great but would become extremely poor without RG. AC does cover a reasonable number of destinations, but going to YYZ to go to South Am is hardly what you would describe as convenient unless you are in Eastern Canada or North-East US.