ISTAT Jetrader - Summer 2024 - 9

it grew rapidly in a short time, and I didn't really have a lot of a lot of experience. So,
my wife, Pituka Ortega Heilbron, was also a big supporter, who helped me develop
my human side. I still have work to do, but I think I'm better now.
Jetrader: In 2023, Copa Airlines announced new expansion plans. Could you
share with us what inspired these initiatives and how they have gone so far?
PH: A significant part of our business model, which we have been developing since
the early 1990s, and it's still what we do to today, is bringing connectivity to cities
throughout the Americas - North, Central, South America and the Caribbean -
that are not well connected with the rest of the continent. The cities we have
just announced fall right in that vision. For example, Florianópolis in Brazil is not
connected to Central America or the Caribbean, and that's a unique connectivity
we're going to bring to that important city. Same with Raleigh-Durham. RaleighDurham
is a well-developed region of the U.S., but it has no non-stop flights to Latin
America. We'll be the first one. I believe another airline is going to connect Mexico
City, but we will not be connecting Mexico. We will be connecting Central America,
South America, some Caribbean and we will be the only service to/from Latin
America to those markets, except for connection through some U.S. hubs.
It will be a unique service. We will bring unique connectivity, and we will also
connect many secondary cities in South America and Central America with a single
connection in Panama where the only other option will be double hub connections,
which is a lot more complicated. Seamless single hub connections are what we
do best and often. We are replicating that model with the new cities we have
announced for June of this year.
Jetrader: Copa Airlines has garnered numerous awards and accolades
over the years, including recognition for on-time performance and service
excellence. How do you ensure such high standards are consistently met
across the airline's operations?
PH: We're extremely proud of those
achievements. We come from a small
country in the middle of Latin America.
Panama is a dynamic country, with
maybe the top GDP per capita in Latin
America, and we are a growing tourist
destination. So, there are a lot of things
about Panama that are quite positive,
but we're not known for punctuality.
Actually, Latin America in general is
not known for that. We're also not
necessarily known for being the most
service-oriented country. We're one
of the most human, sincere and caring, but in terms of sophisticated service,
sometimes we criticize ourselves. That's why we're very proud of showing the
country and the world that, at Copa, it's not that way.
Copa has consistently, like nine or 10 years in a row, been recognized as the
happening in Panama. We think we're
great ambassadors for our country.
But you asked how we accomplish
it. It's not an individual person, and,
for sure, not myself, who can take
credit for all of that. As an organization,
we spend a lot of time and effort
developing the human side of Copa,
on our workforce and our people. A
high percentage of our executives'
time, including mine, is dedicated to
recruiting, training, recognizing and
motivating our teams. It's in our DNA,
and it's what allows us to achieve
amazing results that are usually not
expected from a small airline in the
middle of Latin America.
Jetrader: Your leadership has been
instrumental in establishing the
" Hub of the Americas " in Panama,
which has been a pivotal point in
Copa's success. What challenges did
you face in developing this hub, and
how did you overcome them?
PH: People look at our hub today, and
it's usually in a positive way. They
A high percentage of our executives' time,
including mine, is dedicated to recruiting, training,
recognizing and motivating our teams. It's in our DNA,
and it's what allows us to achieve amazing results.
most on-time airline in Latin America. And most of those years, we've been the
most on-time in all the Americas, including North America. Depending who you
believe, we were either third or fifth in terms of the most on-time airline in the whole
world. Conde Nast readers chose Copa as one of the 15 top international airlines
in the world. We also won the regional SKYTRAX award again and were rated a
5 Star Airline by APEX. We're very proud of all these awards, as well as showing
our country that it is possible and showing the world that a lot of great things are
see its size and effectiveness, but
what many people don't realize is that
we've been building this for over 30
years. It's not an overnight success.
There has been a lot of sweat and
tears along the way, hurdles to climb
over and challenges to deal with, from
many people.
For example, when we started,
the skies in Latin America were very
restrictive. Most countries today have
* SUMMER 2024 * 9

ISTAT Jetrader - Summer 2024

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