Mexicana, Mexico’s largest airline, stopped flying at noon on Saturday, telling passengers still holding tickets it was sorry for the inconvenience. The airline entered bankruptcy protection earlier and was trying to reorganize when parent company Grupo Mexicana pulled the pin, citing, among other things, the inability to reach deals with unionized employees. “Financial deterioration and lack of agreements forced Grupo Mexicana to stop flying,” the company said in a statement. The collapse also shut down the company’s budget spinoffs Click and Link, even though both were reportedly making money. Those who’ve paid for flights can apply for refunds and efforts are being made to help out at least some passengers who had already flown one or more legs of their trip. Meanwhile, Mexicana’s chief competitor Aeromexico is offering discounted fares to those holding Mexicana tickets.
Aeromexico announced Sunday it will offer flat-fare tickets to stranded Mexicana passengers based on flight duration and, in some cases, destination. All the subsidized tickets are for standby seats. Also, Aeromexico doesn’t fly everywhere Mexicana did. Aeromexico is increasing service on heavily used domestic routes to accommodate the extra passengers.
