Mexicana de Aviación
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XA-MEX, a Mexicana A320 at Benito Juárez International Airport, 2006. |
Mexicana de Aviación (commonly known by the shorter name
Mexicana) is
Mexico's second-largest
airline - after
Aeroméxico - and the world's fourth oldest airline still using its original name, after the
Netherland's
KLM,
Colombia's
Avianca, and
Australia's
Qantas.
Mexicana was founded on
July 12 1921, under the name
Compañía Mexicana de Transportación Aérea, (CMTA) as a money carrier to oil fields near
Tampico, on the
Gulf of Mexico. Mexicana's first plane was a Lincoln standard, a two-seat
biplane.
The
1920s were groundbreaking times for the airline, with
air mail service being established and services like
aerial photography being undertaken. In
1929,
Pan Am took over the majority of the airline's stock, and the airline opened its first international route, with service to the
United States. Mexicana used the historic
Ford Ford Trimotor plane for the route flown from
Mexico City to
Brownsville, Texas,
USA, with stops at
Tuxpan and
Tampico. One of the first Mexicana´s pilot was none other than the legendary
Charles Lindbergh himself.
The
1930s saw route expansion and service improvement. Mexicana opened a route from Brownsville to
Guatemala City, stopping over at
Veracruz,
Minatitlán,
Iztepec 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.
The fleet also saw growth during that decade, eight
Fairchild FC2s and 3
Fokker F10s being added.
The
1940s were more of a domestic growth period, although a service was established from Mexico City to
Havana. Routes were opened for the first time to
Monterrey,
Nuevo Laredo, and
Mérida, as well as a night flight to
Los Angeles. The Mérida flights were also flown at night. Mexicana initially used
DC-2s for these flights but, as time went by,
DC-3s were acquired and, later,
DC-4s. The DC-3s became known as
El Palacio Aéreo. (The Air Palace). The DC-4 allowed Mexicana to fly non-stop from Mexico City to Los Angeles for the first time. Mexicana was also able to create a certified pilots school in Mexico City.
The
1950s saw the airline's growth slow a little, but
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 flown over from
London and Mexicana entered the jet age on
July 4,
1960. Since Mexicana was still part of Pan American, these Comets were intended to replace
Boeing 707s should this type not fulfill the expectations of Pan American's owner,
Juan Trippe. Competition grew stiff, however, and by the late 1960s Mexicana was almost forced into
bankruptcy. In
1967 however, Mexicana received its first
Boeing 727, and along with a new administration and strategic plans, the airline was able to recover from its economic problems soon after.
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July 15, 1936 United States edition of a Mexicana timetable. Note the inscription that associates the airline with Pan Am |
In
1968, the stock owned by Pan Am was entirely bought over and Mexicana became once again a 100-percent Mexican company.
1969 was a tragic year for Mexicana, for it lost two 727s in air crashes.
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 they had 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. The Denver route stopped over at
Mazatlán. By this time Mexicana had the largest fleet of 727s outside the USA.
The
1980s for Mexicana were almost inactive, 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. In
1982, the Mexican government acquired 54 percent of the airline. In
1984, a huge building with Mexicana's central offices resembling a control tower 30 stories high and a heliport was unveiled south of Mexico City. In March
1986, tragedy struck, as a Mexicana Boeing 727 en route to
Puerto Vallarta suddenly caught fire and crashed onto the mountains of western Mexico, killing every passenger and crew member on the flight. This is the most recent accident involving a Mexicana aircraft.
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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. In
1991 Airbus A320s joined the airline's fleet, as well as
Fokker F100s in
1992. In
1993 AeroMéxico took over. Cintra was later formed in 1997 when the
Boeing 757s came into service.Mexicana launched a website (www.mexicana.com), and formed an alliance with
United Airlines. It also had the honor of transporting
Pope John Paul II when he flew from Mexico City to
St. Louis, Missouri. Additionally, Mexicana formed alliances with
Air Canada,
Varig and
Air New Zealand. In
2000 Mexicana joined the
Star Alliance, which the previous partners had already been members of. Mexicana had to leave this alliance in
2004, because it cancelled code-sharing agreements with fellow member
United Airlines. However, Mexicana still works together with other Star Alliance members. It also began a program to assist families of people involved in air disasters.
Mexicana would later obtain a certificate to perform maintenance jobs on the new
Europe planes in their fleet.
On
April 28,
2003, a Mexicana de Aviación Airbus jet was forced to land at
San Francisco International Airport after the pilot accidentally set off the aircraft's anti-terrorism alarm.
2004 was an important year for Mexicana since it marked the return of wide body jets to its fleet. The airline acquired one Boeing 767-300ER from
SAS. The aircraft (XA-MXB "Buenos Aires") flies non-stop to
Buenos Aires. Mexicana also left the Star Alliance because it refused to sign a
codeshare agreement with
United Airlines and then signed a codeshare agreement with
Oneworld's American Airlines.
On
March 1,
2005, a Mexicana
A319 that was about to take off from Benito Juárez International Airport had to make a 180 degree turn to avoid a passenger that had jumped off a
Lufthansa Boeing 747. An Aeroméxico
Boeing 757 also suffered damage in the incident, and the Mexicana and Lufthansa aircraft had to wait three hours to go on to their respective destinations. [
1]
On July of the same year,
Iberia Airlines of
Spain announced it has plans to buy part of both Mexicana and
Aeromexico. A decision by Mexicana's owners has not yet been reached, and may be influenced by the facts that
Viasa of Venezuela went bankrupt after Iberia overtook it, and
Aerolíneas Argentinas had previously rejected a similar offer by Iberia.
In
November 29,
2005 Grupo Cintra agreed to sell Mexicana Group (Mexicana de Aviación and
Click Mexicana) to Mexican hotel chain Grupo Posadas for USD$165.5 million.
In
July 12,
2006 Mexicana on its 85th anniversary announced that intends to open new five routes to the Unites States to
Seattle,
Ontario,
Detroit,
North Carolina and
Puerto Rico, and
Asia to
Shanghai,
China in
2007.
*
Old LiveryMexicana's livery used to consist of an all white fuselage, with the word
Mexicana written in italics under the passenger windows, near the plane's cockpit. The tail colors were dark green
Aztec pattern on medium green background and the Mexicana eagle head logo in white.
*
Current LiveryIn order to cut down costs, on the second half of
2005, Mexicana introduced a new livery which consists of the old fuselage colors, but with a new tail design. The tail is now dark blue with the companies logo outlined in white. The engine cowlings are also painted dark blue and feature the companies website.
see article: Mexicana destinations.
The Mexicana fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2006):
*1
Boeing 767-300ER*5
Boeing 757-200*28
Airbus A320-200*16
Airbus A319-100*10
Airbus A318-100The average age of Mexicana fleet is 6.3 years old in May 2006.
*Mexicana was featured prominently on the
2001 Hollywood production
The Mexican.
*Mexicana employed
Puerto Rican actress
Margot Deben to advertise the airline on Puerto Rican
television. Deben said that she
goes to Mexico on Mexicana to shop and shop (more).
*Mexicana was the main sponsor of
soccer team
Chivas de Guadalajara for a period, and their planes were showcased on the team's uniforms. Conversely, some of Mexicana's aircraft were painted in the team's colors.
*Mexicana is the foreign airline with most activity in
Los Angeles International Airport and
Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
*Mexicana serves 7 US cities with a "Tecolote" flight (red-eye)
The images of the Mexicana de Aviacion timetables are used with permission and as courtesy of
Bjorn Larsson and David Zekria, and are part of their personal collections.
At July 31, 2006, Mexicana codeshared with the following airlines:
*
Aeroméxico**
Aerolitoral*
Air Canada*
Air New Zealand*
American Airlines*
Avianca*
Copa Airlines*
Iberia*
Japan Airlines*
LAN Airlines*
Lufthansa*
Varig*
Official site*
Mexicana Fleet Detail*
Mexicana Fleet Age*
Mexicana Passenger Opinions
