Agustín Ojea Quintana – Flybondi

Before 2018, air travel in Argentina was largely an elite privilege. Despite being one of the world’s largest countries, it lacked a low-cost carrier industry, leaving tens of millions reliant on long-distance buses. When Flybondi took to the skies that year, it did more than introduce a new airline—it broke open the market. Making flying as affordable as taking the bus gave all Argentinians a new kind of mobility and opportunity.

Agustín Ojea Quintana | Flybondi | Chief Legal Officer

“For the first time, people who had never imagined themselves on a plane were flying,” says Agustin Ojea Quintana, who joined the company in its infancy and now serves as chief legal officer. “We’ve seen 20 percent of our passengers raise their hands when asked if it’s their first flight. Those moments define what Flybondi stands for.”

Founded with a mission to democratize travel, Flybondi became Argentina’s first true low-cost airline, offering what it calls la libertad de volar—the freedom to fly. Since its first takeoff, the company has generated direct and indirect employment across the country, driven tourism, and expanded access to cities that were previously days apart by bus.

For Ojea Quintana, who left a secure corporate job to help build Flybondi almost from scratch, the choice was deeply personal.

“It wasn’t just about starting a company,” he says. “It was about helping reshape how Argentinians live, work, and connect with one another.”

Breaking barriers in aviation

As one of Flybondi’s earliest employees, Ojea Quintana faced the challenge of helping launch an airline that had received its first aircraft and air operator certificate only weeks earlier. The regulatory framework in Argentina was outdated, rooted in laws from the early 1970s that had barely changed in 50 years. For decades, the system’s inefficiency had kept local carriers loss-making and uncompetitive.

That rigidity was exactly what Ojea Quintana and his legal team set out to change.

“If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope for advance,” Ojea Quintana says, quoting Orville Wright, one of his favorite aviation pioneers.

When Flybondi entered the market, airlines were barred from selling tickets below a government-set minimum fare. After persistent filings, negotiations, and presentations to the Ministry of Transport, the restriction was lifted in 2018. Within a month, Flybondi was selling tickets for as little as one U.S. dollar.

That victory not only made headlines but also set off a wave of reforms that would later reshape Argentina’s aviation market. The legal department played a critical role in drafting and implementing new regulations, including provisions that allowed Flybondi to self-handle its ground operations and remotely dispatch flights—efficiencies unheard of in Argentina’s legacy system.

By 2023, a major overhaul of the Argentine Aeronautic Code had introduced concepts like open skies and deregulated ground handling. For Ojea Quintana’s team, translating these broad principles into practice became the next major task. They successfully obtained certification to offer handling services to third parties, an unprecedented move that created a new revenue stream for the airline.

From El Palomar to pandemic survival

While Flybondi’s rapid ascent drew excitement from travelers, it also attracted resistance from entrenched interests. The company’s first base of operations, El Palomar Airport, became the focus of a politically charged environmental lawsuit that sought to curtail or shut down operations.

Although Flybondi wasn’t a direct party to the claim, the case threatened its ability to operate. Ojea Quintana coordinated closely with government officials, mobilized community support, and led a multipronged legal strategy that preserved airport access for years.

“We weren’t just defending our right to operate,” he explains. “We were defending people’s access to affordable air travel.”

That fight laid the groundwork for a far greater test: the COVID-19 pandemic. When Argentina went into one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March 2020, the government grounded all commercial flights. For nine months, Flybondi’s planes sat idle. The company had to renegotiate over 500 supplier contracts, restructure its fleet, and retain its air operator certificate with only a single aircraft in service.

“The situation reminded me of the Battle of Tucuman in 1812, also known as the exodus of Jujuy,” Ojea Quintana says. “People had to retreat, rebuild, and fight again when the moment came.”

His legal team, working in tandem with the Head of Fleet, coordinated good-faith negotiations with lessors, regulators, and unions to protect the company’s survival.

Flybondi signed crisis agreements that kept employees on payroll, with unions agreeing to temporary salary reductions to preserve jobs. It also worked with suppliers to extend payment plans and issued flexible vouchers to passengers instead of refunds.  “We didn’t want to leave our passengers with nothing,” Ojea Quintana says. “We wanted them to come back when we could fly again—and they did.”

When operations resumed, over 90 percent of those vouchers were redeemed, proving the strategy’s success. Flybondi emerged from the pandemic leaner but more resilient, ready to resume its growth trajectory in a newly deregulated market.

Leading with purpose and perspective

Today, Flybondi is not only Argentina’s leading low-cost carrier but also one of the most admired examples of entrepreneurial innovation in Latin America. From its Buenos Aires base, it continues to expand its domestic and regional routes while pioneering new operational models.

One of the company’s most significant recent breakthroughs was securing authorization for wet leasing operations—an unprecedented move in Argentine aviation. The legal team negotiated the entry of seven foreign aircraft, along with more than 200 crew members and technicians, during the 2024–2025 high season.

“It was the first ACMI operation in Argentina’s history,” Ojea Quintana says. “It required creativity, persistence, and deep collaboration with authorities who had never seen a model like this.”

The arrangement gave Flybondi the flexibility to meet seasonal demand while maintaining financial discipline. Now, Ojea Quintana and his team are working to expand the model further, targeting up to ten wet-leased aircraft for the upcoming season.

Flybondi’s growth continues to be driven by its founding purpose—to make flying accessible to all. The company estimates that one in five passengers is a first-time flyer, a testament to the social and economic impact of low-cost aviation.

Behind that achievement is a legal department that Ojea Quintana has built from two people to eight, covering litigation, regulatory affairs, corporate matters, leasing, insurance and consumer protection. He credits his colleagues with embodying what he calls “gravitas”—the blend of commitment, courage, and authenticity required to navigate Argentina’s complex regulatory and political environment.

“People can only trust you if they know who you really are,” he says. “If they see that you care, they’ll care too. And when they care, they’ll push beyond their own expectations.”

Balancing the skies and the ground

For Ojea Quintana, his responsibilities as chief legal officer are as much about leadership as about law. He sees his role as building bridges—between business goals and regulations, between authorities and innovation, between passengers and the brand.

“The legal team isn’t just here to reduce risk,” he explains. “We’re strategic partners that help the company grow.”

That perspective shapes every decision Flybondi makes, from introducing new routes to engaging with government reforms.

“We keep questioning what’s accepted as true,” he says, invoking again the Wright brothers’ spirit of experimentation. “That’s how we find new solutions.”

Despite the demands of his role, Ojea Quintana maintains a strong sense of balance. He often reflects on moments when his children, Pedro and Amanda, raised their hands on their first flights with Flybondi—symbols of what his work makes possible for millions.

“Those flights remind me why we do this,” he says. “It’s not only about aircraft or contracts. It’s about giving people freedom and connection.”

As Argentina’s aviation landscape continues to evolve, so does Flybondi’s mission. With deregulation creating new growth opportunities, Ojea Quintana and his team are shaping how the company adapts to the future—sustainably, creatively, and with the same spirit that took it from an idea to a national movement.