I just finished reading an article entitled Mexicana demise is hardly missed and was preparing to blog about how other carriers have stepped in to fill the void left in the wake of Mexicana’s sudden shutdown last August. But stop the presses! To my surprise, further research revealed that Mexicana is returning from grave.
Starting on January 24, Mexicana plans to begin selling tickets again and will initially fly to:
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- New York (JFK)
- Miami (MIA)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Las Vegas (LAS)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- San Antonio (SAT)
- Toronto (YYZ)
- Montreal (YUL)
Mexicana ambitiously wants three daily flights to LAX and two daily flights to JFK, MIA, ORD, SFO, and LAS–a lofty goal for an airline that currently has only eight planes. If all goes according to plans, flying will resume at the end of the month or the beginning of February. By the end of the year, Mexicana hopes to expand to 25 additional destinations, including a return to South America.
This can’t be good news for other Mexican airlines and U.S. airlines like United and Delta who have ramped up service to Mexico in response to Mexicana’s demise. In the article I cite above, Aeromexico chief executive Andres Conesa heralds the loss of Mexicana, stating that data "shows there was excess capacity in the market" and "now the industry is corrected to where it should be". Well, capacity is about to grow…
I wasn’t all that impressed when I traveled with Mexicana to Bogota in 2009, but as a consumer I am happy to see another choice in the market which hopefully will put downward pressure on prices. Look for a gradual pullback from U.S. carriers if Mexicana is indeed able to make a comeback. If Mexicana returns to thrice daily service to LAX from Mexico City, UA likely won’t need the extra flights (they went from once daily to three times daily).
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