This week, the Mexican Government promised to start a new commercial airline, employing former Mexicana de Aviación workers and launching it as soon as March 21, 2022. Should we believe in these plans? Let’s investigate further.
What did the Mexican Government offer?
Mexicana de Aviación is a former airline that ceased operations in 2010. The story behind the disappearance of this carrier is filled with corruption. Since then, the former employees have not received any sort of payment nor solution to their legal inquiries.
Three different governments have gone by, and each has promised a solution to the Mexicana issue. Now, the current Mexican president has just announced that he wants a new State airline run by former Mexicana employees.
He vaguely promised that there are negotiations to launch a new carrier but denied giving more information. He said,
“We are looking at everything, and when we have more elements, we will give more information. Currently, we need more time because we’re looking for an agreement. It is a conciliation process because they (the former Mexicana owners, currently prosecuted by local authorities) left a mess. They broke the company and left the employees unprotected. Now, we’re making an effort to relaunch Mexicana.”
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But Mexicana is actually flying again?
The short answer is no. Mexicana de Aviación won’t be flying any time again soon. According to local information, the government plans to have a US$155 million loan to launch a new carrier. Approximately 60% of the loan will come from private investors, and the remaining would come from the government.
The new carrier, which has no name at the moment, would start operating on March 21, 2022. On this date, the Mexican government will also open up the new airport it is building for Mexico City.
This new airline would start with a small fleet, operating only domestic routes. Within the next five years, the carrier would increase its fleet up to 60 planes.
The former Mexicana employees would have a crucial role within the new airline, although we currently don’t know how this would work.
Should we believe in these plans?
The Mexican airline industry took the news of a new State carrier with suspicion. As stated before, it is not the first time that a Mexican government has promised to find a solution to the Mexicana issue. So far, none of those plans have come to fruition.
Additionally, launching a new carrier in nine months is a challenging task. Like any business, a new airline needs to find a good market, and taking things one step at a time is the best strategy.
The government just announced this new airline, meaning there’s zero information on how it will work.
Finally, there’s the issue of the new Mexican airport. The construction of the new hub, located north of Mexico City, is going smoothly in terms of assembling the infrastructure. Nevertheless, the airline industry doesn’t know anything about how this airport will work. You can see above a video of how the new airport currently looks.
The new hub will open in less than eight months. There’s no information regarding the airspace management, how it will simultaneously work with the current Mexico City airport, or what benefits airlines can have if they decide to operate from this new airport.
Do you think we will ever see this new State Mexican airline with former Mexicana employees? Let us know in the comments.
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