A Mexicana de Aviación Airbus A319
Photo: Eliyahu Yosef Parypa/Shutterstock.

The Mexican government is reportedly looking to pay around 733 million pesos (around US$37 million) to acquire the Mexicana de Aviación brand from the former employees of the bankrupt carrier, which ceased operations in August 2010. If sold, it would pave the way for one of Andrés Manuel López Obrador latest pet projects: launching a State airline operated by the army.

The proposal to acquire Mexicana de Aviación

Last year, López Obrador announced his intentions to allow the Mexican military to operate a State carrier. This new airline would be called Mexicana de Aviación, honoring the country’s first-ever carrier. It would be based at Mexico City’s new Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU), serving routes that have been closed in recent times following the disappearance of the original Mexicana, Interjet, and the capacity reduction by struggling ATR operator Aeromar.

Nonetheless, the Mexican government had to take two steps before launching this new State carrier. The first step is to acquire the Mexicana brand from the former employees of the airline. When Mexicana de Aviación ceased operations in August 2010, it left a bankruptcy process open, with thousands of workers unemployed and waiting for a paycheck that has not been delivered more than twelve years later.

This week, the government offered 733.3 million pesos (around US$37 million) to acquire the brand and three assets of the former company, including two buildings. This amount would only cover around 8% of the nearly nine billion pesos (around US$465 million) owned by the former employees of the company. The Mexican magazine Proceso first reported on this.

Will the sale go on?

As reported by local media outlet A21, this offer is extremely low compared to what the former Mexicana employees are owed, but it is the first offer they have received. The leader of the Mexican pilots union (known as ASPA) said that this is the first viable proposal they have received in 12 years.

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The Mexican newspaper El Sol de México reported that the decision to sell the brand should be taken this month. If approved, the government would employ public funds to acquire the name Mexicana de Aviación.

Despite disappearing over 12 years ago, the brand Mexicana de Aviación remains a household name among the flying public in the country. Mexicana de Aviación and Aeromexico were the top two carriers during the twentieth century, reaching transoceanic routes.

A photo of Mexico's president Andres Manuel López Obrador flanked by Military men
Photo: Daniel Martínez Garbuno | Simple Flying.

The second step

Acquiring the Mexicana de Aviación, is one of the steps needed to launch the new carrier. Some might say, the easy step. The second one requires modifying the law.

The Mexican airport law currently states that an airport administrator –for instance, the Mexican army with the Felipe Ángeles International and the future Tulum International– can’t run an airline simultaneously. For obvious reasons, this prevents a carrier from getting exclusive and beneficial deals from the airports run by the same owner.

In October, Mr. López Obrador said that the government is “working on the possibility of having a project of an airline ran by the same company that will run the Tren Maya and the Felipe Ángels and Tulum airports.”

Do you think the former Mexicana de Aviación employees should agree to sell the brand to the Mexican government? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Proceso, A21, El Sol de México.