Mexicana's parent company has announced it will suspend all operations as of 12 noon on 28 August.
The announcement, which affects all flights operated by Mexicana mainline as well as regional carriers Click and Link, comes exactly one week after parent company Nuevo Grupo Aeronautico (NGA) was purchased by the Tenedora K investor group. Tenedora K has since been trying to negotiate concessions from Mexicana's unions, which Tenedora K has said are necessary to go forward with its "proposed rescue" of the company.
The announcement, which was published late on 27 August on Mexicana's website, says NGA has been forced to suspend operations due to the serious deterioration of the company's finances and the inability to reach agreements to ensure its future viability.
The statement, however, says the company continues to look for alternatives to ensure its long-term viability and hopes it will be able to resume operations "soon". It is unclear if these alternatives include Tenedora K, which according to the carrier's unions has not yet put any capital into the company, or if the airline will now look for other investors.
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Several investors had expressed interest in rescuing Mexicana last week and had spoken to the carrier's unions before the Tenedora K consortium was selected by Mexicana pilots union ASPA, which owns 5% of the company, and the previous owners of NGA.
Tendora K has not yet issued its own press release announcing the suspension of operations or saying whether the investor group will continue to negotiate with unions and work on a possible rescue plan. A Tendora K spokesman declined to comment.
The statement on Mexicana's website says financially the company's situation has been aggravated by almost four weeks of operations while tickets sales have been suspended. Mexicana, Click and Link have operated a significantly reduced schedule since Mexicana mainline filed for bankruptcy early this month.
NGA also says benefits from orders by the Mexican court overseeing Mexicana's bankruptcy that are designed to help the carrier with continuing operations have failed to materialise. It says several of its vendors are now requiring pre-payment of services, a requirement it is no longer able to meet.
The company says its already reduced flight schedule will gradually be further reduced beginning midnight local time on 28 August. All flights after 12 noon local time 28 August have been cancelled.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
