AIR CARG O WEEK
THE AMERICAS
AVIANCA CARGO CEO DIOGO ELIAS ON LEADERSHIP, AMAZON AND AIRFREIGHT’S FUTURE
DIOGO ELIAS, RECENTLY APPOINTED CEO OF AVIANCA CARGO, LEADS ONE OF LATIN AMERICA’S MOST PROMINENT AIRLINES THROUGH A PERIOD OF TRANSFORMATION AND GROWTH. HE TALKS TO ACW ABOUT HIS PROGRESSION FROM MICROSOFT BEGINNINGS TO SPEARHEADING AVIANCA’S STRATEGIC AMAZON PARTNERSHIP, THE BRAZILIAN EXECUTIVE SHARED INSIGHTS ON BUILDING TEAMS, MAINTAINING REGIONAL IDENTITY AND POSITIONING THE AIRLINE AS A MAJOR GLOBAL PLAYER IN GLOBAL AIRFREIGHT.
“Anyone willing to work in Latin American markets, whether from China, Vietnam, Africa, or elsewhere, I want to partner with them.”
ACW: You’ve taken on significant leadership roles from a young age. Can you share an example or two of moments that shaped your approach to leadership early on? Diogo Elias: My family were leaders in the agriculture and meat industries in Brazil. So I definitely learned a lot growing up in that environment. Then when I went off to college, as an undergrad, I ran a student consulting company for local businesses called the Junior Enterprise. I’d say those two experiences pointed the way.
ACW: You spent time working at Microsoft. How does your tech industry experience help in aviation? Diogo Elias: At Microsoft in 2005, I was on the emerging markets team developing Windows for Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Russia. We were working globally across different time zones, and what impressed me most was how highly qualified everyone was. I learned the value of choosing the best talent to work with you there, and also how to stay ahead of the curve while pushing partnerships.
ACW: What are your immediate priorities as CEO? Diogo Elias: : I’d say for the second half of 2025, it’s consolidating our transformation. Avianca is on track in terms of reputation, excellence, service level, technology, and certifications. Now we’re increasing capacity, especially freighters. We originally
had six freighters and we’re going to ten in 12-15 months. We received one last year, getting two more by August, plus we started our partnership with Amazon that’s adding almost one freighter’s worth of capacity as well.
ACW: What’s your long-term vision for Avianca? Diogo Elias: Our main objective is to be the preferred carrier in the Latin American market. We want to be number one in the Americas, from north to south, in terms of excellence. Anyone willing to work in Latin American markets, whether from China, Vietnam, Africa, or elsewhere, I want to partner with them.
ACW: How did your Amazon partnership come about? Diogo Elias: Amazon was looking at Latin American markets, particularly Colombia where they have strong market share. They wanted to bring cargo in their own fleet for better service but needed to fill planes on the return trip.
12 We approached them about this last November and I presented
Avianca as an ideal partner. We’re the main carrier to their primary market, Colombia, specifically the Miami-Bogotá route.
ACW: How has this partnership affected Avianca strategically? Diogo Elias: It’s been very rewarding. Amazon is one of the world’s largest airfreight companies with 100 freighters, and we were their first partnership of its kind. Besides reputation and strategy consolidation, it gives us more
capacity. We now have a plane that’s not ours flying the same route, so we can deploy our fleet to increase market share on that route.
ACW: Do you see e-commerce becoming a bigger part of your strategy? Diogo Elias: Absolutely. I mean, of course it depends on the network but e-commerce has seen our biggest volume for the last two to three years. Miami-Bogotá is 70-80% e-commerce. Other lanes to Brazil are only 10-20% because most Brazilian e-commerce comes directly from China or through Europe.
ACW: Where do you see air cargo heading in Latin America over the next 5-10 years? Diogo Elias: We’ll have a bigger footprint, especially as part of the Abra group with GOL in Brazil. Also, our industry has a steady product growing 3-6% organically every year. Of course we have seasonal peaks like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s for flowers, but salmon and fruit are year-round products. We also have the youngest fleet in the region and in the long term
we’ll probably have more sustainable technology and along with a smaller carbon footprint.
ACW: What advice would you give your younger self? Diogo Elias: Face challenges by taking the fear out through preparation. Study more, go abroad, try different careers. I switched between different industries, and I think that was a smart decision. I don’t see myself as a specialist in one specific thing after
hopefully 40 years of experience. Keep pushing yourself to move, keep meeting new people, keep learning different ways of doing things to build your knowledge and experience. Don’t be afraid of change!
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