Aeroméxico

AeroMéxico
IATA ICAO Callsign
AM AMX AEROMEXICO
Founded 1 October 1988 (1988-10-01); (Its predecessor was Aeronaves de México, founded on September the 14th 1934, 81 years ago)
Commenced operations 1 October 1988 (1988-10-01); 27 years ago (as Aerovias de Mexico SA de CV)
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Frequent-flyer program Club Premier
Airport lounge Salón Premier
Alliance SkyTeam
Subsidiaries Aeroméxico Cargo
Aeroméxico Connect
Aeroméxico Express
Aeroméxico Servicios
Fleet size 134
Destinations 84 + 3
Company slogan
  • "Mexico's Global Airline" (English)
  • "La linea que nos une" (Spanish)[2]
Parent company Grupo Aeroméxico
Headquarters Mexico City, Mexico
Key people Andrés Conesa Labastida (CEO)
Revenue Increase US$ 2.80 billion (2011)[3]
Net income Increase US$ 267.6 million (2011)[3]
Employees 13,745 (5 March 2014)
Website www.aeromexico.com
Aeroméxico headquarters building
Location along Paseo de la Reforma
Former names Edificio Centro Olímpico ("Olympic Center Building")
General information
Status Complete
Address Paseo de la Reforma 445, Colonia Cuauhtémoc
Town or city Mexico City
Country Mexico
Coordinates 19°25′31″N 99°10′21″W / 19.425377°N 99.1725283°W / 19.425377; -99.1725283
Current tenants Aeroméxico, Club Premier
Completed 1968
Owner Aeroméxico
Height 50 metres (160 ft)[4]
Technical details
Floor count 13
Design and construction
Architect Francisco J. Serrano, Fernando Pineda, Luis MacGregor Krieger
References
Emporis page[5][6]
Aeroméxico's office in Paris

Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.[7] (Airways of Mexico, SA de CV), operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier[8] airline of Mexico based in Mexico City. It operates scheduled services to more than 56 destinations[9] in Mexico; North, South, and Central America; the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. Its main base and hub is Mexico City International Airport, with a secondary hub at Monterrey.[1]

Grupo Aeroméxico includes Aeroméxico mainline and Aeroméxico Connect (regional subsidiary). The group held #1 place in domestic market share with 36.6%, and #2 place behind American Airlines with 15.3% of the international market share, in the 12 months ending March 2014,[10] becoming Mexico's largest domestic airline group. Aeroméxico is one of the four founding members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, along with Air France, Delta Air Lines, and Korean Air.

The logo shows the head of an Aztec eagle warrior (cuāuhtli).

History

1934

The airline was established as Aeronaves de México on 15 September 1934,[11] by Antonio Díaz Lombardo. The first plane was a Stinson SR. Julio Zinser piloted the maiden flight on the Mexico City - Acapulco route on 14 September 1934.

An early Bellanca aircraft of Aeroméxico, México City - Acapulco ca. 1935
Aeronaves de Mexico Bristol Britannia at New York JFK in 1958

1940s

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 Aerovías Guest (the second airline of the country at that time) that held the routes to Madrid and Paris. Aeroméxico added aircraft including the Douglas DC-3 and its successor, the Douglas DC-4.

1950s

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

1960s

In the early 1960s, the fleet of Aeronaves de México (Aeroméxico) 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 México (Aeroméxico) took over Aerovías Guest Mexico the second airline, and they were merged under the name Aeronaves de México. Later in the 1960s, more DC-8's were added and service to Europe was resumed, operated by two Comet-4C aircraft dry-leased by Aerovías Guest prior to the merger.

1970s

Aeronaves de Mexico Douglas DC-8-51 at Toronto Airport in 1971
Aeromexico Douglas DC-9-32 at Miami International Airport in 1975

The 1970s brought dramatic changes for Aeroméxico. In 1970, under a government plan, Mexican domestic airlines were nationalized into an integrated air transport system under the control of Aeronaves de México. The system included eight smaller carriers, although these were later disbanded.[11] During the early-1970s, the remaining Douglas 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.

Aeroméxico, as one of the launch customers of the Douglas DC-10-30s program, received the first of its two planes in 1974, registered as XA-DUG and XA-DUH. That same year the airline also took delivery of their first seven 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 the early-1970s, two more DC-9-15s were added to the fleet.

1980s

The early 1980s were marked by 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 1984, N3878P later XA-RIY. Aeroméxico, one of the launch customers of the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (an elongated version of the DC-9), received the first two planes in late 1981. Between 1980 and 1981, eight more DC-9-32 aircraft were added. On 31 August 1986, the company suffered its only fatal accident outside 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 and fifteen people on the ground. 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. That same year, the airline was acquired to the charter carrier GATSA and used it for their charter operations until December. In April 1988, the state-owned company was declared bankrupt and grounded for three months because of lack of organization, a fleet with an average of 20 years without a renovation plan and a depredating administration by the Mexican Government. In August, a privatization program was underway. This involved retiring the eight Douglas DC-8's (3 -62s and 5 -51s) along with the remaining ten DC-9-15 aircraft. Starting the privatization process included a new corporate name (Aerovias de Mexico SA de CV). The airline restarted operations with its predecessor's assets, including the headquarters building, maintenance hangar, some aircraft and some former Aeronaves de Mexico employees.

Aeroméxico Boeing 767-300 At Los Cabos International Airport

1990s

The early 1990s were turbulent times, with the rise in fuel costs due to the Gulf War, and a domestic fare war caused by start up airlines like TAESA, SARO, Aviacsa, among others, as well as constant labor problems. In April 1991 the first two 767-200ERs were introduced to the fleet starting to replace DC-10's in services to Europe, New York and Tijuana, another two 767-300ER's joined the fleet later that year. This was all a part of a renovation and expansion program to introduce 24 B757s/B767s Direct flights to Madrid and Paris from Mexico City with Boeing 767s as well as services to Frankfurt via Paris, Rome via Madrid.

In 1992 Grupo Aeroméxico was among other investors that failed to consummate the acquisition of Continental Airlines.

After failing to invest in Continental, Aeroméxico acquired the bankrupt Aeroperú from the Peruvian government. They tried to use the same path that led Aeroméxico to its leadership in the domestic market with Aeroperú.

In October 1992 2 Boeing 767-300ERs were added to the fleet (XA-RKI and XA-RKJ), replacing the 2 older 767-300ER jets (XA-RWW and XA-RWX).

In 1993 Aeroméxico Group took over Mexicana, the second largest airline in the Mexican market under the same management. There was a great dispute in June 1993 with the pilot union regarding the transfer of flights to regional subsidiary Aeromonterrey, which had non-union pilots.[12] Between 1994 and 1995, the six DC-10 aircraft in the fleet were finally retired. Their last revenue flight was in 1995.

In December 1994 (3 weeks after Carlos Salinas left the office), the first of several devaluations in the next 18 months started, giving way to an economic crisis in Mexico. As a consequence, Aeroméxico had to cut capacity and flights to Frankfurt and Rome were canceled, 4 MD80s and 4 B767s were returned to the lessors, early retirement for pilots and other staff was underway, a new 767 was due on April 1995 was transferred to LAN Airlines. Flights to Madrid and Paris were operated only by 2 767-300ER jets.

In 1996 Cintra was created to prevent the two main carriers from going bankrupt. Some B757s of Aeroméxico's original renovation program were transferred to Mexicana and Aeroperú. The market and the airline recovered between 1996 and 1998; 8 MD80s were leased back along with 2 B767-200ERs.

The sale of Grupo Cintra was scheduled after several delays in September 1999, and with the looming presidential elections in 2000, everything was delayed once again. The ruling party lost the election after 70 years in office and all the policies changed. Due to the recession in 2000, the new government put everything on hold, waiting for better economic conditions to start the stock sell-off, and just when everything was about to start, the 11 September 2001 attacks occurred and nothing materialized since the two main carriers, Mexicana and Aeroméxico, were losing large amounts of money.

2000s

A Boeing 737-700 in old livery

Between 2000 and 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 Iraq War, it pursued a fleet renovation program. In 2003, the airline acquired its first Boeing 737-700 instead of the Boeing 717 as a replacement for its aging DC-9 aircraft. On 29 March 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 777-200ERs, making Aeroméxico the third airline in Latin America to fly regularly to Asia, after Varig and the now defunct VASP. Since Varig's demise, Aeroméxico is currently the only airline with this service. Aeroméxico resumed its Mexico City-Tijuana-Shanghai route twice a week as of 30 March 2010. Suspension of this flight was due to the 2009 flu pandemic.

On 29 June 2006, the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and Aeroméxico announced that the airline will operate 3 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Aeroméxico will lease the 5 787-8s from ILFC with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2012, another 2 planes on lease from ILFC will be in service by 2013, and 2 more in 2014 (they were originally to be delivered in 2010 and 2011). From 2006, Consorcio Aeroméxico S.A. de C.V., the parent company of Aeroméxico at the time, faced large debts and had no profits to pay them off, so it offered Aeroméxico for sale in 2007. In early October, a week-long auction was held, with Grupo Financiero Banamex competing against the Saba family. On October 17, 2007, Banamex offered the highest bid and purchased the airline for US$249.1 million. In October 2010, Aeromexico's largest competitor, Mexicana de Aviacion, filed for bankruptcy and was placed in administration.

2010s

A newly delivered 787-8 taxiing at London Heathrow Airport

Delta Air Lines, a US airline, and Aeroméxico signed a commercial alliance.

On 25 July 2012, Andrés Conesa, Aeromexico CEO announced the purchase of 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, albeit 6 firm orders and 4 options; with this, the company will become the first Mexican carrier to have this kind of equipment. In early July 2012 it was reported that the company was looking at Airbus A320 and A350, but ultimately decided on the aircraft manufacturer Boeing. The new order is added to the package of 20 aircraft that the company had announced in 2011 and nine more Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner already provided. The delivery of the Dreamliners began in the summer of 2013. The total investment is US$11 billion and that includes the acquisition of 90 Boeing 737-8 MAX which will be delivered during 2018.[13][14] The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (albeit leased from ILFC) in early August 2013 and officially launched commercial service on 1 October 2013.[15]

Corporate affairs

The headquarters are in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City.[16] The United States headquarters are in Houston.[17]

Destinations

New destinations

In an attempt to gain more worldwide presence and strengthen its network and to make connections easier and more frequent, Aeroméxico has started to develop new international markets. From 2006 it started operations to Tokyo from Mexico City via Tijuana. Service to Shanghai from Mexico City via Tijuana began in May 2008. New flights to San Jose, Costa Rica began in spring 2010. Nonstop Tokyo-Mexico City scheduled flights began on 13 January 2010, and increased to three by March 2010. In February 2010, Aeroméxico announced a realignment of its North American network, as it said it would resume service to Atlanta in May 2010, but would delay plans to launch service to Washington, DC, which it received approval to fly to in January 2010. On 22 May 2012, AeroMexico commenced service to Washington-Dulles and the airline resumed its service to Atlanta-Hartsfield until 1 July 2012. Aeroméxico started services to Bogotá, Colombia on 5 July 2010, with daily flights operated by Boeing 737 aircraft. It resumed operations to Montreal, Canada on 15 December 2010, started New York and Bogotá from Cancún and began operations to London-Heathrow on 15 December 2012, using a Boeing 767. Aeroméxico started operations to Quito, Ecuador on 16 December 2013, operated daily by Boeing 737-700. Aeroméxico started Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 14 July 2014, operating 4 times a week using a Boeing 767-200ER, flights were axed as of July 2015. On 12 January 2016, the Mexico City–Tokyo route was changed from a stop in Monterrey to a non-stop flight using a Boeing 787-8.[18]

Airline partnerships and codeshares

Aeroméxico has codeshare agreements with SkyTeam members

Aeroméxico also codeshares with

Bus services from Tijuana

Aeroméxico contracts with Intercalifornias to offer bus service from Tijuana to cities in California. In order to board the bus, a passenger must have a ticket to or from Tijuana Airport on Aeroméxico.[20]

Fleet

This section describes only the fleet operating under the "Aeromexico" brand and it does not include details of the "Aeromexico Connect" fleet which is a regional subsidiary of Grupo Aeromexico.

On 7 March 2012, the Boeing 787-8 arrived in Mexico City for promotion. As a Boeing 787 customer, Aeroméxico's CEO, Andrés Conesa, was questioned on the routes the aircraft would serve once in Aeromexico's fleet. The airline placed 9 orders of the aircraft, which will come with the new interiors and will seat around 240 passengers. The first routes were from Mexico City to New York, Paris, and Tokyo nonstop. In 2014, London and Madrid were added. Along with these, 10 Boeing 737-8NG will arrive next year with new Sky Interiors. At the same time, Grupo Aeromexico is looking for more 737 and Embraer jets to be added to the fleet. The firm order was confirmed for 5 additional 737-800/900 aircraft from ILFC in addition to 2 more Embraer 190 from Azul Brazilian Airlines. In second quarter 2014 Grupo Aeromexico retired one B737-700. The Company added two B787, one B737-800 under pure lease agreements.

The all-Boeing mainline Aeroméxico fleet consists of the following aircraft as of March 2016:[21][22]

Aircraft In Fleet Orders Options Passengers[23] Notes
C W Y Total
Boeing 737-700 20 0 0 12 18 94 124 All Airplanes Equipped with Winglets.
Being replaced by Boeing 737-800.
Boeing 737-800 31 24 10 16 18 126 160 Being retrofitted with Scimitar Winglets.
New deliveries equipped with Scimitar Winglets.
Deliveries starting from September 2012 are equipped with Boeing Sky Interior.
Some options could be Boeing 737-900ER.
Delivery until 2017.
Boeing 737 MAX 8 0 60 30
TBA
 First delivery begins in October 2017.
Some options could be Boeing 737 MAX 9.
Boeing 777-200ER 4 0 0 49 0 228 277 Will be replaced by Boeing 787-9.
Boeing 787-8 9 1 0 32 0 211 243 Integrated AVOD in both classes.
2 owned, the rest leased.
Boeing 787-9 0 6 4 40 0 240 280 Deliveries begin in 2016.
Aeromexico Connect fleet
Embraer ERJ-145 17 0 0 0 0 50 50
Embraer ERJ-170 13 0 0 0 0 76 76
Embraer ERJ-175 3 5 5 0 0 86 86
Embraer ERJ-190 32 0 0 11 0 88 99
Total 129 96 44

Fleet gallery

Retired fleet

Aeroméxico was one of the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 and MD-87 launch customers. Until the mid-2000s, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 were the airline's workhorses, but were retired between 2004 and 2009 (the MD-80's last revenue flight was in June 2009).

Subsidiaries

Former Subsidiaries

Slogans

Incidents and accidents

Aeronaves de México

Aeroméxico

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About Us", Aeromexico website, retrieved 2015-09-03
  2. 1 2 aeromexico.com
  3. 1 2 "Grupo Aeromexico S.A.B. De C.V. Releases Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011". Reuters. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Aeroméxico Reforma" on Emporis site
  5. ↑ "Edificio Centro Olímpico", Una Vida Moderna
  6. ↑ "Aeroméxico, edemx.com". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Report on Actions of Social Responsibility." Aeroméxico. 41 (43/44). Retrieved on 4 December 2010. "Paseo de la Reforma 445, Col. Cuauhtémoc. C.P. 06500 México D.F."
  8. ↑ "Aeroméxico, la línea bandera del país", El Universal, 10 December 2010
  9. ↑ Aeroméxico. "Aeroméxico - Destinos Aeroméxico". Aeroméxico. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Aeromexico outlines its revenue and network strategy in an uncertain Mexican market". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 27 March 2007. p. 49.
  12. ↑ ITF News. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Boeing, Aeromexico Announce Commitment for 100 Airplanes - Jul 25, 2012". Boeing.mediaroom.com. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  14. ↑ "Finanzas - AeromĂŠxico invertirĂĄ 11 mil mdd para comprar 100 aviones". El Universal. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  15. ↑ Linda Blachly (14 June 2013). "Aeromexico to take delivery of first 787 in August". ATWOnline. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  16. ↑ "Report on Actions of Social Responsibility." Aeroméxico. 4/44. Retrieved on 4 December 2010. "Paseo de la Reforma 445, Col. Cuauhtémoc. C.P. 06500 México D.F."
  17. ↑ "Contact Us." Aeroméxico United States. Retrieved on 18 September 2014. "Aeromexico Consumer Relations 3663 N. Sam Houston Parkway E. Ste. #500 Houston, Texas 77032"
  18. ↑ "Tendrá Monterrey vuelo directo a Tokio", Periódico AM, 2014-07-23
  19. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2015/12/22/amws-codeshare-dec15/
  20. ↑ "Tijuana - California Cities." Aeroméxico. Retrieved on 19 April 2014.
  21. ↑ http://www.airfleets.es/flottecie/Aeromexico.htm
  22. ↑ http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/AeroMexico/information.php
  23. ↑ "Aeromexico: Our Fleet". Aeromexico.com. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  24. ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aeromexico-announces-launch-of-new-aeromexico-contigo-product-211882931.html
  25. ↑ http://aeromexico.com/us/promotions/fare-sales-and-special-offers/am-contigo.html
  26. ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/26699-aeromar-airlines-to-operate-its-atr72-600s-for-aeromxico-express
  27. ↑ http://aeromexico.com/en/about-us/history-advertising/?site=us
  28. ↑ http://www.slogans.de/slogans.php?BSelect%5B%5D=29320
  29. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-53-DO (DC-3) XA-GUN Monterrey". Aviation-safety.net. 25 March 1954. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  30. ↑ "Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 03251954". Airdisaster.com. 25 March 1954. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  31. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-749A Constellation XA-MEV Guadalajara Airport (GDL)". Aviation-safety.net. 2 June 1958. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  32. ↑ "Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 06021958". Airdisaster.com. 2 June 1958. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  33. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-8-21 XA-XAX New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY (IDL)". Aviation-safety.net. 19 January 1961. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  34. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-8-51 XA-PEI Acapulco". Aviation-safety.net. 13 August 1966. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  35. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-8-51 XA-NUS Lake Texcoco". Aviation-safety.net. 24 December 1966. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  36. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3A-197D XA-FUW La Paz". Aviation-safety.net. 12 June 1967. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  37. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 XA-SOC Puerto Vallarta Airport (PVR)". Aviation-safety.net. 20 June 1973. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  38. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 XA-SOF Léon Airport (BJX)". Aviation-safety.net. 2 September 1976. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  39. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 XA-DEN Chihuahua Airport (CUU)". Aviation-safety.net. 27 July 1981. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  40. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 XA-DEO Zihuatanejo". Aviation-safety.net. 8 November 1981. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  41. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 N936ML Reynosa-Gen Lucio Blanco Airport (REX)". Aviation-safety.net. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 2012-10-06.

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