NEWS: Mexicana Sold Off, Aeromexico...Not So Much

Mexico's "state airline entity" Cintra approved the sale of Mexicana leaving AeroMexico as the final state run airline still in need of a new owner. I had posted previously on the difficulties Cintra was having in ridding itself of both airlines auction style. Grupo Posadas is the new owner of of Mexicana (details here)in a deal that also included low fare carrier Click. This is a pivotal time for Mexico based airlines. Click Read More!

Can AeroMexico be repackaged and sold off in time to compete with a privately run Mexicana which should benefit from an infusion of private dollars? More important, can the Mexicana's new ownership make it successful? There's been much debate regarding Mexicana's inability to make money with some attributing this failure to being "state run" while others point at the internal workings of the airline itself. When I look at this whole process and the fact that major players like Spain's Iberia and Icelandair backed out of bidding on these airlines I have to wonder. Mexicana may indeed be dysfunctional to a point where the larger players didn't want the headache. Finally, any airline trying to operate out of Mexico faces a lot of competition from airlines based north of the border. In my opinion, Grupo Posadas has it hands full.