Aeroméxico

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AeroMéxico
Image:AeroMéxico Logo.svg
IATA
AM		ICAO
AMX		Callsign
AEROMEXICO
Founded1934 (as Aeronaves de México)
1988 (as Aerovias de México)
HubsMexico City International Airport
General Mariano Escobedo International Airport
Member loungeSalón Premier
AllianceSkyTeam
Fleet size69
Destinations49
Parent companyGrupo Financiero Banamex
HeadquartersMexico City, Mexico
Key peopleAndrés Conesa Labastida (CEO)
Website: http://www.aeromexico.com

AeroMéxico is an airline based in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the largest airline in Mexico. It operates scheduled domestic services and international services to Asia, Europe, Central America, South America and USA. Its main base is Mexico City International Airport, with secondary hubs at General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, Monterrey and General Ignacio Pesqueira Garcia International Airport, Hermosillo.[1] Following VARIG's discontinuation of its flights to Japan in 2005, AeroMéxico is the only Latin American airline that flies to Asia

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1934

[citation needed]

The airline was established as Aeronaves de México on 15 September 1934,[1] by Antonio Díaz Lombardo. The first plane was a Stinson SR and Julio Zinser piloted it. He inaugurated the maiden flight on the Mexico City - Acapulco route on 14 September 1934.

Image:Aeromexico Mexico Acapulco ca 1935.jpg
Aeromexico México City - Acapulco ca. 1935

When World War II began, the airline continued to grow with the help of Pan Am, which owned 25% of the new Mexican airline. Aeroméxico saw few changes for the next two decades. However, during the 1950s, renovation began, and the airline took over various small competitor companies across the country, including Aerovias Guest (the second airline of the country at that time) that held the routes to Madrid and Paris. Aeroméxico added aircraft including the legendary Douglas DC-3 and its successor, the Douglas DC-4.

[edit] 1950s

[citation needed]

During the late 1950s, the Douglas DC-4's were replaced by some Douglas DC-6 and 3 Bristol Britannia the first turboprop passenger plane in the fleet and in 1958, services were inaugurated to Idlewild Airport (now JFK) using the same Bristol Britannia. The Mexico City-New York route would prove profitable for "Aeronaves" and its North American competitors. The airline was nationalised in 1959.

[edit] 1960s

[citation needed]

In the early 1960s fleet of Aeronaves de Mexico (Aeromexico) included Douglas DC-3, Douglas DC-6, and Bristol Britannia aircraft. Starting in 1961, "Aeronaves" began replacing its piston-engined planes with new jets. The first jet-engined aircraft were a pair of Douglas DC-8's. The planes were used on routes within Mexico and to New York City. Between 1962 and 1963, Aeronaves de Mexico (Aeromexico) took over Aerovias Guest Mexico the second airline, and they were merged, under the name Aeronaves de Mexico. Later in the 1960s more DC-8's were added and service to Europe was resumed, the service was operated by two Mexicana's, Comet IVC those planes were dry leased by Aerovias Guest Before the merger. In 1964 the first Douglas DC-9-15 was added to the fleet, followed by 9 more planes up to 1968, the planes were used mainly for domestic and US services replacing the remaining piston driven aircraft, and this enabled the airline to gradually expand its shorthaul international services. During the last part of the 1960s, the Douglas DC-3s were finally retired.


[edit] 1970s

The 1970s brought dramatic changes for Aeroméxico. In 1970, under a government plan, Mexican domestic airlines were rationalized into an integrated air transport system under the control of Aeronaves de Mexico. The system included eight smaller carriers, although these were later disbanded.[1]

During the early-1970s, the remaining DC-6 and Bristol Britannia aircraft were retired. A new color scheme (orange and black) was introduced and the airline changed its name from "Aeronaves de México" to its current, shortened version of Aeroméxico in February 1972. Aeromexico, as one of the launch customers of the Douglas DC-10-30s program, received the first two planes in 1974, registered as XA-DUG and XA-DUH. That same year the airline also took delivery the first four Douglas DC-9-32s. During this period the airline's popularity and visibility grew dramatically. This was due in part to Aeroméxico's involvement in Mexican movies. Basically, every time a character in any movie produced in Mexico had to fly somewhere, they supposedly flew on Aeroméxico. Service to Canada was initiated and in late-1970s, two more DC-9-15s were added to the fleet.[citation needed]

[edit] 1980s

[citation needed]

The early 1980s brought times of expansion. A new color scheme was introduced (orange paint and silver), two DC-10-15 and a DC-10-30 planes were added in 1981, N10038 and N1003N, and in 1982, N3878P later XA-RIY. Aeromexico as one of the launch customers of the McDonnell Douglas MD-82, a stretch version of the DC-9, received the first two planes in late 1981. During the period between 1980 and 1981, eight more DC-9-32 aircraft were added.

The late 1980s were tough times for Aeroméxico. On August 31, 1986, the company suffered the only fatal accident outside of Mexico when Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9, approaching Los Angeles International Airport was struck by a small Piper aircraft. Both aircraft then fell to earth in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, California. All 64 passengers and crew on board the DC-9-32 were killed, as were three on the Piper. Fifteen victims on the ground were also killed. After three years and a long trial, the plane crew and the airline were found not to blame. This was because the pilot of the Piper had strayed into an air traffic control zone reserved for commercial flights. This accident cost 82 people their lives.

In April 1988, the state owned company was declared bankrupt. The main reasons were lack of organization, a fleet with an average of 20 years without a renovation plan and a depredating administration by the Mexican Government. The company was grounded for three months. In August, a privatization program was underway. This involved retiring ten Douglas DC-8 along with five DC-9-15 aircraft. Aerovias de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., was born and established on September 7 1988, with the main objective of setting up public air transportation services for passengers, mail and, cargo in general; both domestically and internationally. The Company acquired all assets of Aeronaves de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. The airline was thus privatized. This new airline started operations with 25 aircraft (DC-9-32'S, MD-82's/83's and DC-10's) and less than one half of their former employees, 400 of which were pilots. The first CEO was Pedro Cerisola Weber.

The main investors of the new airline were local banks, private investors like Boris Irmaz one of the major share holders of LAN Chile and 25% by the pilots union, ASPA. Revitalized and reinvigorated, Aeroméxico resumed operations, changing the paint scheme to (blue/red) in early 1989. During the period between 1989 and 1991, many aircraft were added to the fleet: one McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, four ex-Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-9-31, and ten brand new McDonnell Douglas MD-88 airplanes. This helped the airline recover its load factors.

[edit] 1990s

[citation needed]

The early 1990s were turbulent times, with the rise in fuel costs due to the first Gulf War, and a domestic fare war caused by start up airlines like TAESA, Saro, Aviacsa, among others, as well as constant labor problems.

AeroMéxico, a long-established McDonnell Douglas customer became a Boeing customer in 1990, placing an order for 26 Boeing 767/Boeing 757 airplanes with deliveries between 1991 and 1996. However, only 15 of these planes were delivered. Four 757 orders were diverted to Aeroperú between 1993 and 1996. In 1991, Aeromexico bought Aerolitoral, the third regional airline in Aeromexico's history and now the most important regional carrier in Mexico. The fleet increased from 27 jets in October 1988, to 55 jets and 18 turboprop aircraft from the regional feeder Aerolitoral in December 1992.

In late 1992, Grupo AeroMexico was among other investors that failed to consummate the acquisition of Continental Airlines. Later that year, AeroMexico acquired the bankrupt Aeroperú from the Peruvian government, They tried to use the same path that lead AeroMexico to the leadership in the domestic market with AeroPeru. By the end of 1993, two (AeroMexico/Aeromonterrey) Boeing 757, XA-SMD and XA-SME (the latter destroyed in Sept. 1996 in the sea off Peru), were operated by Aeroperú until March 1999 when AeroPeru was liquidated.

Between 1991 and 1994, more second hand MD-82 and 83 planes were added. The first two McDonnell Douglas MD-87 planes joined in 1993 for charter flights, and six brand new Boeing 757 jets to use on new routes to Phoenix, Arizona, domestic routes and some new routes on the western United States, as well as to Lima. In 1992, AeroMéxico introduced direct flights to Madrid and Paris from Mexico City and started services to Frankfurt via Paris and Rome via Madrid. On 1993 Aeromexico Group took over Mexicana the second largest airline in the mexican market. Between 1994 and 1995 the six DC-10 aircraft in the fleet were retired. Their last revenue flight was in February 1995.

In the first quarter of 1995, in the middle of an economic crisis in Mexico, AeroMexico suffered a fraud of US$75m by their former CEO Gerardo de Prevoisin. And Grupo Cintra was created to avoid a bankruptcy of the two main carriers. It completed a successful financial restructuring in August 1995. There was a setback in the fleet, as three MD-83 planes were returned to lessors and four Boeing 767 aircraft for flights to Frankfurt and Rome were cancelled. Later on 1996, a code sharing arrangement with Delta Air Lines and Air France was started. Three years later, in 1999, AeroMexico became one of the founders of SkyTeam.

Since 1995, many banks like Bancomer that held a large amount of stocks on Grupo Cintra were sold to foreign Banks or foreign investors, the government during the transactions paid and kept the stock. Aircraft were added to the fleet between 1996 and 2000: four Boeing 767, three Boeing 757, and six MD-80 aircraft. Flights to Madrid and Paris started to be operated on daily basis, but there was not a substantial growth of the company.

The sale of Grupo Cintra was announced after several delays in September 1999. With the looming presidential elections in 2000, everything was delayed once again. The ruling party for 70 years lost the election and all the policies changed. The new government put everything on hold until better economic conditions arrived to start the stock sell-off. Just when they were about to start the process, the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred and nothing materialized since the two main carriers Mexicana and AeroMexico (as all the carriers in the world) were losing large amounts of money.

[edit] 2000s

[citation needed]

In the period between 2000-2005 AeroMéxico had an average fleet of 60 aircraft in main line, plus 20 in Aerolitoral, as well as five CEO's during this time. After 9/11 and the Gulf War, it was forced to put in movement an ambitious fleet renovation program. This began in mid-2003, by replacing all the remaining DC-9-32 planes (14) in the fleet, as well as the MD-82/83 models, with more efficient Boeing 737-700/800 craft. The first Boeing 737-700 entered into operation in December 2003. Additionally 767's and 757's are planned to be replaced with Boeing 787's and Boeing 777's. The Aerolitoral regional airline exchanged Fairchild Metros and Saab planes for Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft.

Aeroméxico's ownership was transferred to Cintra Holdings (now Consorcio Aeroméxico) in January 2006. It has 6,173 employees (at March 2007).[1]

On March 29, 2006 AeroMéxico CEO, Andrés Conesa announced the inauguration of direct flights between Japan and Mexico City via Tijuana. This was after the purchase of two Boeing 777-200ER. This makes Aeroméxico the second airline in Latin America to fly to Asia, after Varig. However, because of Varig's current financial situation, Aeroméxico is currently the sole airline with this service until Varig restarts flights to Asia. On June 29, 2006, the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and AeroMéxico announced that the airline will operate three Boeing 787 airplanes. Aeromexico will lease the three 787-8s from ILFC with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2010, another two planes on lease from ILFC will be in service by 2011.

Image:Aeromexico B762 XA-JBC 20060608 STR 800x533.jpg
Aeromexico B767-200ER

On October 17, 2007 Aeroméxico was finally sold to Banamex owned by Citigroup, which won the bidding with a $249 million offer.[1]

On November 23, 2007 Aeroméxico announced new flights to Shanghai beginning on April 8, 2008 via Tijuana and Rome via Monterrey, beginning on March 4, 2008

[edit] Subsidiaries

[edit] Former subsidiaries

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Aeroméxico destinations

[edit] Fleet

Aeroméxico operates an all-Boeing fleet (including McDonnell-Douglas) and consists of the following aircraft as of October 2007:

Aeroméxico Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(First/Economy) 		Routes Notes
Boeing 737-700 33
(10 orders) 		124 (12/112) Domestic/International short-long haul
Mexico and USA
Boeing 737-800 6 150 (24/126) Domestic/International short-medium haul
Mexico, Peru and USA
Boeing 767-200ER 3 181 (21/160) International long haul
Europe, Monterrey, New York and South America
Boeing 767-300ER 1 209 (21/188) Domestic/International long haul
Europe, Monterrey, New York and South America
Boeing 777-200ER 4 277 (49/228) Domestic/International long haul
São Paulo, Europe, Tokyo and Tijuana
Boeing 787-8 (5 orders) International long haul Entry into service: 2010
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 2 142 (12/130) Domestic/International short-medium haul
Mexico and USA
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 3 142 (12/130) Domestic/International short-medium haul
Mexico and USA
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 10 109 (12/97) Domestic/International short-medium haul
Mexico, Central America and USA
McDonnell Douglas MD-88 7 142 (12/130) Domestic/International short-medium haul
Mexico and USA

The average age of Aeroméxico fleet is 8.8 years as of October 2007.[2]

[edit] Retired

[edit] Cabin

  • Clase Premier

Aeromexico offers Clase Premier on all its flights. Clase Premier is Aeromexico´s Business/First section, where you will find regular Business/First service.

When traveling in Clase Premier, you will be able to enjoy exclusive services before, during, and after the flight.

[edit] Salón Premier

Salones Premier are located throughout major airports in Mexico. The lounges open one hour before the departure of the first flight and close when the last flight departs.

[edit] Locations

[edit] Codeshare agreements

As of December, 2007, Aeroméxico has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[3]

[edit] Livery

Aeromexico's livery is a Eurowhite scheme, composed of primarily white fuselage with blue in the tail and a red stripe across the front of the plane, although some planes exist with a bare metal sans the eurowhite.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

[citation needed]
Image:Amcrash.JPG
Aeroméxico Flight 250 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 crashed when it missed the runway in Reynosa, Mexico. The crash occurred on October 6, 2000.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-03-27, p. 49. 
  2. ^ Aeroméxico Fleet Age
  3. ^ [http://www.aeromexico.com/usa/english/pages/about/global_alliances/alliances_list.html

[edit] External links


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