Watching Mexicana’s meltdown last summer was painful for any airline watcher and, at the same time, one more example of just how much the business has changed and just how much labor groups among airlines aren’t seeing the paradigm shift in the business.

Now a new group is trying to re-launch Mexicana and this seems pretty unwise to me.  In the short time Mexicana has been gone, the void it left has been filled by both domestic players (Aeromexico, Volaris, Viva Aerobus and Interjet) as well as foreign carriers from the United States. 

If anything, it shows that there was an excess of capacity in the marketplace and there may even still be a bit of that today.  Mexico’s domestic market decreased by just 1% year over year measured last October and that is with a world recession still very much in place. 

No, it’s best that that airline stay away.  The last thing Mexico’s domestic market needs is a revived Mexicana under any terms.  It’s sad to see them leave but it’s best for the airline industry there. 

If anything, it’s emblematic of what we have not done in this country:  namely allow a legacy carrier to fail.  It wouldn’t have collapsed our air system and it wouldn’t have even resulted in massively higher air fares or a massive disruption in travel.  It would have been destructive to the labor working at that airline but I honestly believe that would have recovered much better in the long run too.

It’s been a long time since we allowed a trunk airline to fail permanently and, yet, I think it would have been better than the consolidation we’ve permitted that has resulted in SuperLegacy airlines that are carving larger chunks of the US off for themselves. 

The best thing that could happen for Mexico’s aviation industry is a reinvestment in its infrastructure and encouraging its newer players to avoid the mistakes made with both Mexicana and Aeromexico.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax