The Mexican Aviation airline has taken off again. The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, inaugurated the company's operations this Tuesday with a commercial flight from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), in the State of Mexico, to the Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, in Tulum, Quintana Roo. Mexicana de Aviación is in the hands of the military company Grupo Aeroportuario, Ferroviario, de Servicios Auxiliares y Conexos Olmeca-Maya-Mexica, SA de CV, which manages several trains and airports. The relaunch of Mexicana a few days before the end of the year, adds to the batch of megaprojects inaugurated by López Obrador in the fall of his Administration, which will come to an end in 2024. This December, the president also gave the starting signal to the Mayan Train and then to the Interoceanic Train.
López Obrador has witnessed the takeoff of Mexicana's first flight, a Boeing 737, from AIFA, the headquarters of the new state airline's operations. The Office of the President provided a link from AIFA to the conference morning of López Obrador, in the National Palace. The president has highlighted the rebirth of the airline in the hands of the Mexican State as an achievement against privatizations. López Obrador has recalled that Mexicana was disincorporated by the Government of Vicente Fox (2000-2006) and sold to businessman Gastón Azcárraga, who led it to bankruptcy.
“It was one of those favors that were done for electoral purposes, when economic power and political power were fed and nurtured. Gastón Azcárraga supported Fox in the campaign and when Fox became president, Mexicana de Aviación was handed over to him, later they bankrupted it, fired the workers, already in the Government of Felipe Calderón, and it was neglected, until now, that he went back to fly Mexican. It is the beginning, but the important thing is that this Mexican airline is rescued after acts of corruption and these deliveries of public goods to individuals,” said López Obrador.
Mexicana will make flights to 20 destinations, between important cities and tourist spots. General Sergio Montaño, director of the airline, has stated that, at its start, 425 tickets were sold to the various destinations that Mexicana will cover, at low prices. The official has specified that the round trip flight from AIFA to Tulum was quoted at 1,558 pesos, while in other companies it would cost 2,309 pesos. The flight to Quintana Roo took off this Monday at around eight in the morning. “Mr. President: the plane is in the air. I allow myself to inform you, on behalf of all of us who make up this airline, that Mexicana de Aviación has resumed its flight,” said General Montaño from the AIFA control tower.
López Obrador has applauded the takeoff and described Mexicana's return as historic. “We are going to consolidate this line in the time we have left in the presidency, and we are sure that those who are going to replace us will finish the work of strengthening Mexicana de Aviación. It is in very good hands, in your hands [el Ejército]who have a lot of experience, who have dedicated themselves to aviation for years,” he indicated.
The president has defended that the state company be in the hands of Sedena, “a strong institution of the Mexican State,” as a measure against privatizations. “That we no longer return to that very harmful period that was the neoliberal period, that of the privatization of all these assets that were public and were transferred to private individuals, that this ends now, and that little by little, without violating the legal framework “As the people decide, economic policy continues to change, and we know how to distinguish between the private and the public.” The president has stated that to recover public goods and functions that were taken from the State “an efficient, professional, and of course honest administration is needed, and that is why we made the decision that these companies are in the hands of a consolidated, strengthened institution. , like Sedena”, he specified.
The Secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, has indicated that Mexicana has begun operations with five aircraft, three Boeing 737-800 and two Embraer. He has specified that in 2024 another five aircraft will be leased to an American company, SAT Holdings, in addition to the possibility of purchasing used and new aircraft will be discussed directly with Boeing. “The aim will be to strengthen the company so that it grows, covering the different important tourist spots in the country, but also serving the parts where airlines do not reach and where there is a need for Mexican society to have this means of transportation” , the military command has said. “We will give priority to serving those airports so that the airline becomes a driving force for development, and bring that development to those airports that have little mobility due to the lack of flights to those points,” he added.
Sandoval has added that the Mexican State airline will also be strengthened in terms of administrative personnel and pilots. In fact, he has pointed out that workers who worked at the airline before its bankruptcy were hired for the relaunch. “There are personnel who were hired from the old airline, who had capabilities, they all went through a selection process and were hired. There were also people from Aeromar. Obviously, we could not waste that great experience that the people who have worked have,” he said.
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