Azul now sees its financial recovery arriving later than planned. In an interview with Reuters on Monday 19 October, chief financial officer Antonio Carlos Garcia said that if jet fuel stays expensive, the recovery could be delayed by twelve months or longer1. Azul left Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in February2.

From restructuring to a fuel shock

Azul filed for Chapter 11 on 28 May 20253 and completed the process on 20 February 2026, in less than nine months. The company says the restructuring cut loans and financing by about US$1.1 billion and aircraft lease debt by nearly 40%, with United Airlines and American Airlines joining as strategic investors2. By the end of June, total debt stood at R$21.4 billion, R$13.0 billion lower than a year earlier4.

Then fuel took over. In the second quarter Azul paid 61.8% more per litre of jet fuel than a year earlier4. In June, chief executive John Rodgerson said the war in Iran had lasted longer than expected and announced further frequency cuts5. The EBITDA margin fell from 23.1% to 10.2%, even though revenue of R$5.0 billion was a record for a second quarter4. Fuel was already the airline's largest cost in 2025, at 33.0% of operating expenses3.

Capacity, fares and the fleet

Azul offered 10.6% fewer available seat kilometres in the second quarter than a year earlier4. Garcia expects the year to close with roughly 5% less capacity than 2025, and small increases to start in the final quarter. Fares recover 60% to 65% of the higher fuel bill, he said. Some cancelled flights and parked aircraft are returning, but he does not want that read as a growth push1. In June, Rodgerson said cuts would target frequencies rather than whole cities, with the hubs at Campinas, Belo Horizonte and Recife protected56.

At the end of June Azul had 155 aircraft available to schedule: 53 Airbus narrowbodies, 42 Embraer E2s, 8 Embraer E1s, 23 ATRs, 5 Airbus widebodies and 24 Cessna aircraft. Over the year 17 E1s and 6 ATRs left the operation, and next-generation aircraft flew about 94.1% of domestic capacity4. For long haul, Azul has 11 A330neos on order after disclosing four more in May7.

What it means for pilots

In July, after the first fuel-driven cuts, Azul said it planned to hire 446 pilots by the end of 2026, including at its regional subsidiary Azul Conecta, and that about 200 had already joined8. At Azul the openings are for first officers on the Embraer E1, Embraer E2 and ATR 72. Azul Conecta is hiring captains and first officers for the Cessna Caravan, Pilatus PC-12 and the new SkyCourier. New hires train at UniAzul, the company's own training university, and the airline said 202 pilots had been promoted or moved between fleets this year89.

Two further points matter for crews. Azul is phasing out ACMI flying, aircraft leased in with crew, and aims to operate only Azul aircraft with Azul crewmembers in 2027. Salaries and benefits rose 21.3% in the second quarter, which the company put down to investments in crew retention, hiring and training, plus a 5% union pay rise4. You can see how the selection works on our Azul pilot selection page and on the Azul airline profile.

The wider Brazilian market

Consolidation is not Azul's priority. Talks on a possible merger with Abra, the controlling shareholder of Gol, ended in September 2025, together with the codeshare Azul and Gol had signed in 20243. Garcia said Azul's priority is to 'reset' its own business, not to look at deals1. Azul also has access to real-denominated, government-backed financing of up to R$4.6 billion, which the company says exceeds what its business plan assumed4. Fuel pressure is not limited to Brazil: read how Switzerland released jet fuel reserves for Zurich.