Wreckage

Two months have passed since bankrupt Mexicana Airlines stopped flying. Collateral damage appears to have been extensive. At the Mexico City airport, 70 shops, stores and restaurants have closed, 1,500 ground personnel, 300 sky kitchen employees and 147 private security workers along with pilots, flight attendants and such are out of work. Hard hit, too, has been the meetings and convention business throughout the country.

Investors who bought the airline from the government earlier in the decade lost everything. Creditors, including unionized former employees, are demanding compensation while leasing companies want their jets back. Although there had been talk about getting Mexicana flying again by December, that probably will happen only if some other company buys its name.

--
Jimm Budd

Reporting from Mexico City

Member of the Society of American Travel Writers