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Mexico's Air Safety Rating is Once Again Top Notch

Not too long ago the Federal Aviation Administration wasn’t totally cool with Mexico’s less than stringent stance on the country’s air travel safety. Spring Break was in jeopardy, as nervous parents might warn against flights aboard Mexicana or AeroMexico, but it appears that college kids are now ready to hit the beach without a care in the world...like usual.

US Aviation officials last week gave the all-clear to raise Mexico’s aviation safety rating back up to the top level, as things have improved south of the border. It sounds like whatever they weren’t doing before they’re doing now as the FAA feels Mexico is following all of the international air safety rules.

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Mexicana Flight Attendants Strip Down for Calendar to Raise...Errr...Awareness

When Mexicana suspended all flights a few months ago, we gave you the heads up that they'd try to look for new funding sources so they could start back up. So they did some restructuring, but apparently ended up slightly short of their goal and massively short of exposure. So the airline got the idea to have 10 of their unemployed flight attendants get in really tight shirts and/or really skimpy bikinis and pose for a 2011 calendar. Done and done. If they had applied that kind of business sense to the airline itself, there'd be Mexicana planes in the air right now.

In fairness, this isn't exactly a patentable innovation. Russia's Aeroflot put out a fairly hardcore flight attendant calendar for their VIP's over the summer, while Air Comet stewardesses took off their clothes and got photographed as part of a wage dispute with their own airline. Nonjudgmental as we are, we dutifully posted links to both calendars, because who are we to scrutinize the motives of busty flight attendants who want to take off their clothes? For their airline, against their airline, or even if they don't have any strong feelings about they airline at all—t's hardly our place to judge.

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Bankrupt Mexicana Stops All Flights, but They Could Still Come Back

Apparently that last minute infusion of cash was not enough, as Mexicana and its planes might be going to that big terminal in the sky. Over the weekend, the troubled airline shut down all flights until further notice, as they continued to blame all of their money issues.

Things were struggling on Friday like the past few weeks, but by Saturday afternoon, the planes stayed parked at their gates. Mexicana wants passengers stuck with tickets to visit their website to request a refund. There’s a pretty straightforward refund form that can be filled out online, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be saving your cash anytime soon. For those stuck away from home, Aeromexico is promising to help out, but you’ll still have to spend a little money, as they’re only offering discounts on standby flights.

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Mexicana May Be Saved, but Only Time Will Tell

Mexicana has not been having a good August, but it looks like a group of fairly wealthy folks want to help the airline end 2010 with a smile.

A group of Mexican investors under the name of "Tenedora K" have put together enough money to buy 95 percent of the troubled airline. They left just enough for the pilots’ union to keep control of the remaining five percent. At this point, Mexicana has not released any information about their sale, but we’d expect to get some news any day now.

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Canceled Flights and Unpaid Pilots Aren't Good Signs for Mexicana

Things are not going well for Mexicana. You already knew that they just became the latest airline to file for bankruptcy, and there’s that whole FAA downgrade thing that has to be a blow to their airline ego. It seems that the bad news is compounding quickly, and we might not be hearing much from them in a few months if their bad luck continues.

Last week the airline suspended ticket sales just days after filing for bankruptcy protection, but the airline promised that they would continue flying for those passengers that already held tickets. The airline hoped that this would give them some time to continue labor talks with some employees, but we just think that this reveals how bad things really are.

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Another One Bites the Dust: Mexicana Files for Bankruptcy

The string of great news for the oneworld airline alliance had to stop some time, and apparently that time was yesterday. That's when ailing Mexican national airline Mexicana officially filed for bankruptcy in the US and Mexico. The move will allow them to keep operating, though it obviously casts doubt on the company's long-term viability. It's also not a particularly positive sign for the airline industry as a whole, which really just can't catch a break.

Still, it's hard to say that this filing was totally unexpected. Between getting their air safety rating downgraded by the FAA and having their planes randomly confiscated by Canadian lessors, the airline wasn't exactly convening an overwhelming ethos of stability.

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The FAA Downgrades Mexico's Air Safety Rating: What It Means for Travelers

It’s a little too early to start planning spring break just yet, as college coeds haven’t even reported back to the dorms for the fall. However, there’s something that will concern them a little more than this year’s textbook bill. The FAA isn’t cool with Mexico’s airline safety ability, and the agency has downgraded their air safety rating to the level usually enjoyed by third-world countries.

This doesn’t mean that your dreams of delicious tacos in the streets of Mexico City and beer funnels in Cancun are ruined forever, but it does mean that Uncle Sam is slightly concerned about your safety while flying aboard Mexican airlines. Flights will continue, but AeroMexico and Mexicana won’t be getting any new routes to the United States anytime soon. Also, US airlines will stop allowing codeshares on flights operated by Mexican airlines. That means Delta can’t sell AeroMexico flights as their own, and the same goes with American Airlines partnering up with Mexicana.

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Mexicana to Get Midwest's Boeing 717 Hand-Me-Downs

If you're planning to head south of the border on Mexicana later this year, don't be surprised if you find Best Buy receipts and Sbarro packaging stuck down in your seat cushion, as you might be hitching a ride on one of Midwest Airlines' former fleet. According to the Chicago Tribune, Boeing has just agreed to lease 25 fuel-efficient, twin-engine 717 aircraft to Mexicana and their LCC, ClickAir. Of these, 16 will be coming straight from flying the Midwest skies and therefore begin something like a prolonged vacation in Mexico.

The 104-passenger planes are no longer made by Boeing, although popular with travelers, and will thus be passed around probably a few more times before heading to the great scrap pile in the sky. Sadly, there's no word on whether or not the planes will be haunted by the ghost of defunct carriers past.

Related Stories
· Midwest Airlines' Boeing 717s to Go to Mexicana [Chicago Tribune]
· Despite Death Watch, Midwest Remains Zagat Favorite [Jaunted]
· Midwest Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: caribb]

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Mexican LCCs: Click on Click Mexicana

Click Mexicana, the low cost subsidiary of poor speller and airline Mexicana, is one of those budget airlines that definitely benefits from having a big brother.

Click's just got another round of positive exposure thanks to big bro Mexicana joining the oneworld alliance because passengers on Click Mexicana will also earn points for flights. Technically speaking, full benefits won't kick in until 2009, but the Mexicana and Click Mexicana flights have already been added to the network.

But Click is another Mexican LCC that could benefit from an English-language version of its website if it expects to grab a lot of international customers. Its destinations are all domestic with one exception: The airline also flies into Havana, Cuba. It's easy enough to grab a ticket... as long as you can speak Spanish and can click a mouse.

Related Stories:
· Click Mexicana [Official Site]
· Mexicana Joins OneWorld [Boarding.no]
· Mexicana Air Forgot to Use Spell Checker [Jaunted]

[Photo: Patxi64]

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Mexicana Air Forgot to Use Spell Checker

We snapped this pic of a Mexicana Airlines commercial that aired on Friday night during the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors basketball game on a DirecTV NBA channel.

Whoops, looks like someone forgot to use the spell checker. Now, we don't particularly like to make fun of spelling deficiencies--we've been known to misspell a word or two--but c'mon, it's a TV commercial. And to prove how bad the error was, we can't even remember what the special fares offered were.

Maybe they were for Mexicana's daily, one-hour-long internet-only sales that they call the Temtpation Temptation Hour?

Related Stories:
· Mexicana Airlines coverage [Jaunted]
· Airfare Sales [Jaunted]

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U.S. Passport Procrastinators Still Can't Beat The Backlog

Just in case you thought last week's news of passport rules easing would actually save passport procrastinators time at the airport, we are here to remind you that many travelers without a passport might run into other issues, due to long standing airline rules for entering Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

Some airlines, like Mexicana, are refusing to let passengers board flights without birth certificates or a naturalization document.

Mexico requires proof of U.S. citizenship with a passport, a birth certificate or a naturalization document.

Mexicana Airlines officials said that Mexico's entry requirement is clearly noted in the ticket information but that some passengers may have been confused by last Friday's announcement of the U.S. passport waiver, which only applies to leaving and entering the U.S.

This is not new news. For years airlines have required birth certificates, passports or naturalization documents on these flights, however, before we condemn these people as true traveling idiots, we offer this:

The problem is that "a lot of folks" turned in the original or a certified copy of their birth certificate when they applied for a passport, and now "it's stuck somewhere in Houston".

Ok, that seems like an acceptable excuse, it really does, but we just don't see the airlines giving in much on this one. Our advice? If you are part of the back logged passport crowd bring as many official identification documents as you possibly can (social security cards, drivers licenses, birth certificates (copies too), etc). Either that or just hop in your car and drive to Canada or Mexico this summer instead of flying--the highway border patrol will usually be a tad more lenient than the airport folks as far as entry for vacationers go.

Have a passport procrastinator story? Let us know in comments below, or send it here.

Related Stories:
· Passport Procrastinators Rejoice [Jaunted]
· Passports [Jaunted]
· Confusion over U.S. passport waiver grounds travelers [LA Times]

[Photo: Erica_Marshall]