David Knibb SEATTLE
Mexico's incumbent carriers are trying to thwart the takeoff of newcomer Azteca Airlines. Slated to start domestic flights as early as March, Azteca has now delayed its launch while Mexico's secretary of communications and transportation (SCT) ponders issues raised by the incumbents.
As early as February, Aaron Dychter, SCT undersecretary for aviation, told reporters that Azteca's application seemed to be in order and he foresaw "no obstacle" to approval. But that was before the incumbent airlines launched their campaign.
Mexicana, which may have the most to lose, has been the most outspoken. Chief executive Fernando Flores has called Azteca a second version of Taesa, which went bankrupt last year after its grounding over safety concerns. Mexicana claims Azteca has purchased hangars, maintenance equipment, and office space from the Taesa bankruptcy and is manned by former Taesa cockpit and cabin crews, and maintenance and engineering staff. Others argue that Mexicana is effectively asking the SCT to become a bankruptcy collection agent by urging the secretary not to grant Azteca's operating license until the startup pays off Taesa's debts.
Canaero, Mexico's airline association, also refers to Azteca as Taesa's "reincarnation" and raises the spectre of a bloody fare war if Azteca follows Taesa's old policies. Aeromexico has not mentioned Azteca by name, but president Alfonso Pasquel warns publicly that Mexico's airlines face a "mini-crisis" over the potential of a fares war starting.
Azteca is puzzled by these charges. It admits that it bought assets, but no aircraft, from Taesa's bankruptcy because they were available at a good price. It also plans to operate some former Taesa routes because now they are not served. But Azteca insists that its owners and managers have no links to the former owners or managers of Taesa, and that it will not start a fare war.
"We're not TAESA; by no means and by no way," an Azteca official told sister online publication, Air Transport Intelligence. The official blames Cintra, the holding company for Mexicana and Aeromexico, for fabricating these claims to keep out rivals and thereby boost the price when its own airlines are sold later this year.
Source: Airline Business
