Established in 1976 by Captain Rolim Adolfo Amaro, with the commitment to offer the customer with a high-quality service, TAM has been the leader in the Brazilian aviation market. Today, the company has over 29,700 employees and, during 2011, carried 37.7 million passengers, both on domestic and international flights. The mottos "Passion for Flying" and "Command at Service", inspired in the "Spirit to Serve" established by Captain Rolim, are part of the essence of the company and guide its initiatives and activities.

TAM operates flights to 43 destinations in Brazil and, as a result of commercial agreements signed with regional Brazilian companies, serves 92 Brazilian destinations. The company's international operations include flights to 19 destinations and cover, through codeshare agreements, another 92 international destinations.

The other business units of the company are TAM Vacations (Brazil's second largest tour operator), which offers more than 600 travel packages and serves around5,000 travel agencies located across Brazil; and TAM Cargo, which uses the available space in the cargo compartment of TAM’s own aircraft to carry express goods and both conventional and special cargos, serving various locations in Brazil and abroad.

In 1993 TAM established the first frequent flyer programme in Brazil, TAM Fidelidade. Since its creation, TAM Fidelidade has distributed more than 18 million tickets through the redemption of accrued points, and has now over 8.9 million members.

In 2009, TAM launched Multiplus Fidelidade, to develop loyalty programme networks. Through Multiplus Fidelidade, consumers can accumulate points from a variety of customer loyalty programs in to one single account and redeem the points in several different types of companies. In February of 2010, Multiplus did its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

TAM was the first Brazilian airline to get an IOSA certification (International Operational Safety Audit) granted by IATA (International Air Transport Association) — in 2012, the certification was revalidated for the third time. Besides that, TAM’s Technology Centre, the MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) unit, located in the city of São Carlos (in the State of São Paulo), has been certified by the aeronautical authorities in Brazil, the US, Europe and many other countries and regions to provide maintenance services to its own fleet, as well as to third party aircraft.

TAM maintains, also in São Carlos, the largest aviation museum in the world operated by an airline company, with a permanent exhibition of 80 aircraft. The idea of starting a collection of historic aircraft came from Captain Rolim Amaro and his brother, João Amaro, who is the president of the Museum. The brothers Amaro shared the same passion for flying and, in creating the Museum, they gave to Brazil its most important cultural reference in the aviation sector.