In recent decades, the Brazilian airline industry has undergone substantial changes that led to increased demand, increased competition, traditional companies' disappearance, and emergence of new leaders. More recently, successive crises negatively affected the companies that operate there. Thus, to better understand the development of the sector, the paper analyses the performance of the two largest companies: GOL and TAM. It is a descriptive research using bibliographic and documental strategies with a mixed approach of data analysis. Results indicate poor economic-financial performance of the companies reflected in negative profit margins, rising costs and increasing debt.