After the cancellation of eight of the 18 routes to which Mexicana de Aviación flew, experts suggest rethinking the business model and the sale of services so that the Mexican State airline is profitable.
On January 6, the company stopped flying to Acapulco, Campeche, Guadalajara, Ixtapa, Nuevo Laredo, Puerto Vallarta, Uruapan and Villahermosa; The airline’s fleet is only two aircraft.
Julio Zugasti, senior associate at the Hogan Lovells law firm, said that the airline is facing great challenges since having canceled eight of 18 scheduled routes represents a watershed in its way of operating.
To be profitable, he believed that the company should not be oriented solely to the sale of tickets but to other schemes such as charging for seat selection, checked luggage, food sales, insurance, lodging, and car rental.
“The business model of an airline today does not only mean the sale of tickets but there are various elements that complement the business scheme.
“Because it is a state company, its objective is naturally the provision of air transport services, but it should be prevented from working with numbers that are not fruitful,” he indicated.
Zugasti recommends implementing three items to make the airline profitable: charging for seat selection, checked luggage, and sale of complementary services such as food on board, insurance, and fostering alliances to offer lodging and car rental.
This model is what low-cost airlines such as Volaris and Viva Aerobus operate with.
“All this will add to the amount and, in general, to how the viability of the business could be identified,” Zugasti noted.
Another aspect to consider is the cargo business because airlines not only transport passengers but also merchandise, he added. According to Mexicana, its cargo operation began in October 2024 and has accumulated to date the transportation of more than 114 tons.
This year it hopes to open the cargo service in the cities of Guadalajara, Mérida, San José del Cabo, and Tulum, since it is now only done from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA).
Another service that can generate income is advertising advertisements inside the company’s aircraft.
Traditionally, an airline takes a couple of years to become profitable, but there are fundamental variables to achieve profitability such as the definition of the routes, who they compete within the market, and the number of aircraft to provide the service, Zugasti commented. Currently, Mexicana’s fleet consists of three Boeing 737-800 aircraft that belong to the Mexican Air Force, but one is out of service for maintenance.
TYT Newsroom
