Mexicana de Aviación

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Mexicana

IATA MX	ICAO MXA	Callsign Mexicana
Founded		1921
Hubs		Mexico City International Airport
Focus cities		Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Int'l Airport
Frequent flyer program		Frecuenta
Member lounge		Salón Ejecutivo
Fleet size		63
Destinations		47
Parent company		Grupo Posadas
Headquarters		Mexico City, Mexico
Key people		Emilio Romano Mussali (CEO)
Website: http://www.mexicana.com

XA-MEX, a Mexicana A320 at Benito Juárez International Airport, 2006.

Mexicana de Aviación (commonly known by the shorter name Mexicana) is a major airline in Mexico providing domestic and international flights. Its main competitor is AeroMexico, although the two companies formerly "code-shared" on several routes and were merged for more than a decade. It is the world's fourth oldest airline, after the Netherland's KLM, Colombia's Avianca, and Australia's Qantas (this logic also makes it the oldest North American airline) and features award-winning inflight service.

1 History
2 Livery
3 Destinations
4 Fleet
5 Timetable images note
6 Codesharing
7 External links
8 References

[edit] History

The "Mexicana" brand name was established on July 12, 1921, by American residents in Mexico L.A. Winship and Harry J. Lawson when the Compañía Mexicana de Transportación Aérea, S.A. (roughly "Mexican Air Transport Company" in English), (CMTA) was awarded the Mexico City to Tampico route by the Mexican government. The purpose was to transport wages to the oil fields near Tampico, on the Gulf of Mexico. Mexicana's first aircraft type was the Lincoln Standard, a two-seat biplane, starting operations with two airplanes of the type. The 1920s were groundbreaking times for the airline, with air mail service being established and other services like aerial photography being undertaken.

William Mallory and George Rihl headed Compania Mexicana de Aviacion ("Mexican Aviation Company" or "Mexican Airline Company"), a competitor to CMTA; they acquired the latter's assets in 1924 ^[1] and the company that emerged is the one that exists to this day. In 1925 Sherman Fairchild purchased a 20% stake in the Mexican airline introducing Fairchild FC2 airplanes in 1928. In February 1929, Juan Trippe of Pan Am took over the majority of the airline's stock, and the company opened its first international route, with service to the United States. Mexicana used the Ford Trimotor plane to operate the Mexico City-Tuxpan-Tampico-Brownsville, Texas, USA, route. Charles Lindbergh piloted the first flight on this route.

The 1930s saw route expansion and service improvement. Mexicana opened a route from Brownsville to Guatemala City, stopping over at Veracruz, Minatitlán, Ixtepec and Tapachula. In addition, flights were started to El Salvador, Costa Rica and Cuba, and the association with Pan Am gave them access to Nicaragua and Panama too, through Pan Am's Miami base. (Pan Am had undertaken flights from Mexico City to Miami.) Mexicana also became then the first foreign airline ever to fly to Los Angeles when it began flights on 3 January 1936 ^[1]. The fleet expanded during that decade, as eight Fairchild FC2s and three Fokker F10s were incorporated.

The 1940s were primarily a period of domestic growth, although service was established from Mexico City to Havana. Routes were opened to Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, and Mérida. Additionally, a night flight to Los Angeles was established. The Mérida flights also operated at night. Mexicana initially used Douglas DC-2s for these flights but, as time went on, larger aircraft, such as the Douglas DC-3s, were acquired and, later, Douglas DC-4s. The DC-3s were known as El Palacio Aéreo (The Air Palace) for their luxury and comfort. The DC-4 allowed Mexicana to offer non-stop service on the Mexico City to Los Angeles route. By this decade, Mexicana was able to create a certified pilots' school in Mexico City.

The 1950s saw the airline's growth slow, but Douglas DC-6s were welcomed to the fleet, and a flight attendant school was opened. The DC-6s were put to work on the Mexico City to Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City to Oaxaca routes. Service to San Antonio, Texas was initiated later in the decade.

In the 1960s, four De Havilland Comets were bought and Mexicana entered the jet age on July 4, 1960 with the first jet service between Mexico City and Los Angeles. At this point, Mexicana was still a Pan American Airways subsidiary and these Comets were intended to replace Pan American's Boeing 707s should this type not fulfill the expectations of Pan American's owner, Juan Trippe. Despite its use of technologically advanced aircraft types, competition was stiff. By the late 1960s, the company faced bankruptcy. Amidst the difficulties, the airline received its first Boeing 727.

The difficult times brought about a change in the airline's administration and on 15 January 1968, Mexican Crescencio Ballesteros, took over as chairman ^[1] and Manuel Sosa de la Vega was appointed as President and CEO. The new administration implemented strategic plans and the airline was able to recover from its economic problems soon after.

July 15, 1936 United States edition of a Mexicana timetable. Note the inscription that associates the airline with Pan Am

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Despite its economic revival, 1969 was a difficult year for the airline as it lost two Boeing 727 jets in air crashes. The first occurred in bad weather on a flight from Mexico City to Monterrey. The second occurred on an international flight between Chicago and Mexico City.

In 1971, Mexicana started flights to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a route it would maintain for more than 25 years without interruption, and to Denver, Colorado. The jet fleet kept expanding and eventually consisted of 19 jets, the largest jet fleet in Latin America at the time. They also started a flight simulator service with a 727 simulator at their hub in Mexico City International Airport. By this time Mexicana had the largest fleet of 727s outside the USA.

During the 1980s, Mexicana's growth was static. However, a few events touched the company. In 1981, 3 DC-10-15s were received and began making their way through the airline's Caribbean routes. This was the first "wide-body" aircraft type Mexicana ever operated and was intended for use on high-density routes. In 1982, the Mexican government acquired 58% of the airline (only to be reprivatized again in August 1989) ^[1]. In 1984, construction was completed on the company's new corporate headquarters, a building 30 stories tall meant to resemble an air traffic control tower, on Xola Avenue in Mexico City. In March 1986, tragedy struck, as a Boeing 727, Mexicana Flight 940, en route to Puerto Vallarta suddenly caught fire and crashed onto the mountains of western Mexico, killing everyone on board. This is the most recent fatal accident involving a Mexicana aircraft. In 1988, Aeronaves de Mexico (AeroMexico), Mexicana's closest rival, declared bankruptcy. Consequently, Mexicana took over some of AeroMexico's longer flights during the 1990s, including flights to Canada and South America.

1982 Mexicana timetable, note the drawing of a DC-10, as well as Latin American landmarks as Puerto Rico's El Morro castle and Mexico's Mayan ruins

For Mexicana, the 1990s kept bringing changes. The Mexican airline industry was deregulated, which allowed new competitors to form. Seeking to remain competitive and modern, the airline incorporated European-built Airbus A320s in 1991 and Dutch Fokker F100s in 1992. In 1993 a reorganized AeroMéxico took over as the company struggled financially. During the mid-1990s, the Mexican economy was hard-hit by the devaluation of the Mexican peso and Mexicana, AeroMexico, and their regional affiliates were nationalized when their parent company, CINTRA (Corporacion Internacional de Aviacion), was taken over by the government. The airlines remained in their merged state until 2005. As in 1967, a new management team was hired, this time headed by President and CEO, Fernando Flores. The company was reorganized and rationalized, with a new emphasis placed on international service. Unprofitable routes were cut and the DC-10s were retired. The airline ventured deep into South America by adding flights to Lima, Peru, Santiago de Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina and further into North America, adding flights to Montreal, Canada. To operate these new and longer routes, the airline leased Boeing 757s, a medium-sized jet that is more modern and smaller than the DC-10 and better suited to the airline's needs at the time. Another aspect of this reorganization involved the creation of alliances. It was part of the regional alliances, LatinPass and Alas de America, and later formed an alliance with United Airlines. This latter alliance brought Mexicana into the network of global alliances, as it eventually brought the airline into the Star Alliance. Recognizing the usefulness and importance of the Internet, the airline launched a website meant to promote its service and eventually included a reservation center, allowing potential passengers another option for purchasing tickets.

In the 2000s, Mexicana has continued to grow. It celebrated its 80th anniversary in July, 2001, just before the terrorist attacks of September 11 sent worldwide aviation into a tailspin. Nevertheless, the airline continues to evolve. It officially joined the Star Alliance in 2000 amid much fanfare, only to exit in March, 2004. Current CEO, Emilio Romano, has stated in the airline's inflight magazine, VUELO, that the airline left the alliance to pursue more effective code-sharing relationships with other airlines. Simultaneously, the airline created an alliance with American Airlines and several oneworld Alliance partners causing some to speculate whether the airline will join that alliance. Nevertheless, it has maintained ties to some of its former Star Alliance partners, such as Lufthansa. In 2003, the airline retired the Boeing 727 after operating the type for almost 40 years. These aircraft were replaced with newer A320, A319, and A318 types. Thus, the airline, once an important Boeing Company operator, is now an important Airbus Industry airline, although it still operates some Boeing types. Notably, the airline's long haul operations are partly conducted by Boeing 757s and Boeing 767s, the latter type introduced in December 2003, although fleet renewal plans may see long haul operations taken over by Airbus types and the Boeing 757s are being phased out of the fleet.

From 1995 to 2005, Mexicana was merged with AeroMéxico as a part of CINTRA. Despite government announcements indicating that the airlines were going to be privatized, that move did not occur until November 29, 2005, when CINTRA sold Mexicana and its subsidiary, Click Mexicana, to the Mexican hotel chain Grupo Posadas for USD$165.5 million. The road to privatization was long and winding. The government reversed its course on several occasions. At times, it proposed to sell Mexicana and AeroMéxico separately; other times, it proposed to sell them together to increase the bid price. It also proposed to sell the companies merged, but separate from their regional affiliates to increase competition. Several companies expressed interest in purchasing one or both of the airlines. For example, Iberia Airlines of Spain announced it had plans to buy part of both Mexicana and Aeroméxico. However Mexicana's owners rejected the offer possibly because another Iberia-owned Latin-American airline, Viasa of Venezuela, had gone bankrupt under Iberia's ownership. Further, Aerolíneas Argentinas had previously rejected a similar offer by Iberia.

2005 was an important year for Mexican aviation as several low cost carriers were established in Mexico to compete with AeroMéxico and Mexicana. For its part, Mexicana rebranded its regional subsidiary, AeroCaribe, as "Click Mexicana" and promotes it as a low cost carrier. This is part of the company's plan to remain competitive as the aviation industry changes and competition intensifies. Another component of this plan includes increasing its internationl presence. On July 12, 2006, Mexicana announced that it intends to open new routes to the United States to Seattle, Ontario, Detroit, Charlotte, and Puerto Rico; it is also negotiating with Arkansas officials to serve Little Rock. Of greater interest, perhaps, the airline is studying the possibility of opening flights to to Shanghai, China in 2007. Should the airline undertake this challenge, it would mark an important achievement in its 85 year history.

[edit] Livery

In order to cut costs, Mexicana introduced a new livery in the second half of 2005. It consists of the old fuselage colors, but new colors and design for the tail fin and engines. The tail is now dark blue with the company's eagle logo outlined and cut-off in white. The engine cowlings are the same color and feature the company's website.