Businessman Raul Padilla, a frequent flier between the U.S. and Mexico, has been alternating his travel-Delta one flight, Mexicana Airlines the next- in a personal comparison test.
”Both have good service, both have very clean cabins, but I think Mexicana is trying a little bit harder,” said Padilla, 45, as he and his wife prepared to return home to Mexico City this week aboard Mexicana. ”Mexicana has TVs for every seat,” Padilla said. ”They also let you bring on more luggage.”
Based on statistics from the Chicago Department of Aviation, many others, including members of the city`s burgeoning Hispanic community, are flocking to Mexicana.
In 1991, Mexicana carried more than 425,000 passengers, making it the largest foreign-flagged carrier serving Chicago. Only American and United carry more international travelers to and from Chicago.
The 71-year-old Mexicana, originally established to serve as a payroll courier service to workers in oil fields some distance from Mexico City, became the first foreign-owned carrier to serve Chicago when it began operating out of Midway Airport in 1958. In 1979, it was flying twice a day from O`Hare International Airport. Now Mexicana averages nine flights a day there to different areas of Mexico.
”The growth of Mexicana is phenomenal,” said Jack Ranttila, acting deputy commissioner of the City Department of Aviation. ”Last year, Mexicana paid approximately $2 million in landing fees to the city. They also are going to be a key player in the new international terminal No. 5.”
During the 1980s, Hispanics grew to 11 percent of the Chicago metropolitan area population from 8 percent, with a significant portion of the increase fueled by immigration from Mexico.
Consequently, Chicagoans returning to Mexico for family visits account for about 60 percent of the airline`s passenger load, said Mexicana President Ricardo Garcia Sainz. The remainder of the travelers are split between tourists vacationing in Mexico and business travelers, he said.
Chicago is not the only city where Mexicana leads in passenger volume. The airline is the top foreign-flagged carrier out of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., Denver, Dallas and San Antonio, said Bruce Hauserman, a spokesman for Mexicana.
Mexicana also operates out of Miami and New York.
”Our strategy is north-south, to link the northern part of the United States to South America,” Garcia Sainz said. ”We already serve Guatemala and Costa Rica, made our first flight to San Salvador this year and began service to Caracas and Bogota.”
In addition, Garcia Sainz said, Mexicana this year reinstated service to San Juan, Puerto Rico, began charters to Santo Domingo and is increasing the number of regular flights to Cuba.
”If the North American Free Trade Agreement proceeds as expected, the amount of people we would have the opportunity to serve would clearly increase,” he said, adding that Mexicana will be working to attract more business travelers.
Between 1989 and 1991 Mexicana`s passenger load grew more than 14 percent, to 425,551 passengers last year from approximately 371,000, according to statistics supplied by the Department of Aviation. Mexicana carries almost twice as many passengers as the next largest foreign-flagged airline, British Airways, which last year flew 248,320 passengers.
In 1991, the company lost $38.9 million on revenues of approximately $1 billion. Mexicana attributed a fair share of its problems to a combination of the Persian Gulf war and the worldwide recession, which lowered demand for airline travel and increased commercial airline operating costs.
Also, the Mexican government has been steadily privatizing the airline industry and promoted the participation of new regional carriers through deregulation.
According to the firm`s 1991 annual report, Mexicana has 11,168 employees, with another 908 working for its affiliates. More than 8,900 are union workers.
The Mexican government is about to relinquish its remaining 25 percent interest in the airline in late August, said M. Katherine Lorenzi, a regional vice president for Mexicana. Two investment groups, Grupo Falcon and Grupo Xabre, are said to be vying to purchase the remaining shares.
The airline will emerge with a completely new ethnic look for its fleet of 60 aircraft, a look that almost literally says ”Fly me, I`m Mexican.”
Mexicana has been stripping the planes down to the bare metal and repainting the tail of each jetliner with an indigenous design of Mexico. These include the geometric stone mosaic patterns of the Zapotec Indians, the colorful patterned fabrics of the Huichol tribe of the state of Nayarit and a pattern reminiscent of serapes made in Saltillo.
The airline is one of two in the world offering passengers their own television monitor on every seat, first class and coach, said Lorenzi.
As part of its effort to lure corporate travelers, the airline this year instituted a frequent-flier program for the first time, she said.
United also has stepped up service from Chicago to Mexico City, adding a second non-stop flight in June. And United, which acquired all of bankrupt Pan Am`s Latin American routes and began operating them at the end of January, started a Spanish-language reservations service with a toll-free number last month.
Mexicana is seeking to expand by acquiring three new planes with capacities of 100, 150 and 200 seats.
