1934 aircraft which operated the México City–Acapulco run ca. 1935. The airline was established as
Aeronaves de México on 15 September 1934, by Antonio Díaz Lombardo. Its first aircraft was a
Stinson SR Reliant 5A (registered XB-AJI).
Julio Zinser piloted the maiden flight on the Mexico City –
Acapulco route on 14 September 1934.
1940s When
World War II began, the airline continued to grow with the help of
Pan Am, which owned 40% of the new Mexican airline and upgrade the fleet with
DC-2s and
Boeing 247s. That subsidiary had a mix of Twin-Otter and DC-9 jets aircraft. Aeroméxico, as one of the launch customers of the
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 program, received the first of its aircraft in 1974. That same year, the airline also took delivery of its first seven
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32s. During this period, the airline's popularity and visibility grew dramatically. This was due in part to Aeroméxico's involvement in
Mexican movies. Basically, every time characters in any movie produced in Mexico had to fly somewhere, they were depicted as flying on Aeroméxico aircraft.
1980s The early 1980s were marked by expansion. A new color scheme was introduced (orange paint and silver), two DC-10-15s and a DC-10-30 were added in 1981 and in 1984. Aeroméxico, one of the launch customers of the
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (an elongated version of the DC-9), received its first two in late 1981. Between 1980 and 1981, eight more DC-9-32 aircraft were added. In 1982, Aeroméxico acquired four more
MD-80s for $100 million, increasing the total number of aircraft in the company's fleet to 43. On 31 August 1986, the company suffered its only fatal accident outside Mexico when
Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9, approaching
Los Angeles International Airport was struck by a
light aircraft. Both aircraft then fell to earth in the Los Angeles suburb of
Cerritos, California. All 64 passengers and crew on board the DC-9-32 were killed, as were the three people in the light aircraft and 15 people on the ground. After three years and a long trial, the aircraft's crew and the airline were found not to blame. This was because the pilot of the Piper had strayed into an air traffic control zone reserved for commercial flights. That same year, the airline acquired the charter carrier GATSA and used it for charter operations until December. In April 1988, the state-owned company was declared bankrupt and grounded for three months because of lack of organization, a fleet with an average of 20 years without a renovation plan and a depredating administration by the Mexican Government. In August, a privatization program was underway. This involved retiring the eight Douglas DC-8s along with the remaining ten DC-9-15 aircraft. After a strike and bankruptcy between April and May 1988, a privatization process started and included a new corporate name (Aerovias de Mexico SA de CV). The airline restarted operations with some of its predecessor's assets, including the headquarters building, maintenance hangar, some aircraft, and some former Aeronaves de Mexico employees.
1990s at
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2001. The early 1990s were turbulent times, with the rise in fuel costs due to the
Gulf War, and a domestic fare war caused by start-up airlines like
TAESA,
Servicios Aéreos Rutas Oriente,
Aviacsa, among others, as well as constant labor problems. In April 1991, the first two 767-200ERs were introduced to the fleet to replace DC-10s in services to Europe, New York, and Tijuana, and another two 767-300ERs joined the fleet later that year. This was all a part of a renovation and expansion program to introduce 24 direct flights to
Madrid and
Paris from
Mexico City with Boeing 767s as well as services to
Frankfurt via Paris and Rome via Madrid. In 1992, Grupo Aeroméxico was among other investors that failed to consummate the acquisition of
Continental Airlines. After failing to invest in Continental, Aeroméxico acquired the bankrupt Aeroperú from the
Peruvian government. There was a great dispute in June 1993 with the pilot union regarding the transfer of flights to regional subsidiary Aeromonterrey, which had non-union pilots. Between 1994 and 1995, the six DC-10 aircraft in the fleet were finally retired. Their last revenue flight was in 1995. In December 1994, three weeks after Carlos Salinas de Gortari left the office, the first of several devaluations in the next 18 months started, giving way to the
Mexican peso crisis. As a consequence, Aeroméxico had to cut capacity and flights to Frankfurt and Rome were canceled, four McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and four
Boeing 767s were returned to their lessors, early retirement for pilots and other staff was underway, and a new Boeing 767 due for delivery in April 1995 was instead transferred to another airline. Flights to Madrid and Paris were operated only by two Boeing 767-300ER jets. In 1996, Cintra was created to prevent the two main carriers from going bankrupt. Some
Boeing 757s of Aeroméxico's original renovation program were transferred to Mexicana and
Aeroperú. The market and the airline recovered between 1996 and 1998; eight McDonnell Douglas MD80s were leased back along with two Boeing 767-200ERs. The sale of Grupo Cintra was scheduled after several delays in September 1999, and with the looming presidential elections in 2000, everything was delayed once again. The ruling party lost the election after 70 years in office and all the policies changed. Due to the recession in 2000, the new government put everything on hold, waiting for better economic conditions to start the stock sell-off, and just when everything was about to start, the
11 September 2001 attacks occurred and nothing materialized since the two main carriers, Mexicana and Aeroméxico, were losing large amounts of money.
2000s in 2004. Between 2000 and 2005, Aeroméxico had an average fleet of 60 aircraft in mainline operation, plus 20 in
Aerolitoral, as well as five CEOs during this time. On 22 June 2000, the airline, along with
Air France,
Delta, and
Korean Air, founded the
SkyTeam global airline alliance. After 9/11 and the Iraq War, it pursued a fleet renovation program. In 2003, the airline acquired its first
Boeing 737-700 instead of the
Boeing 717 as a replacement for its aging DC-9 aircraft. On 29 March 2006, Aeroméxico CEO Andrés Conesa announced the inauguration of direct flights between Japan and Mexico City via
Tijuana. This was after the purchase of two
Boeing 777-200ERs, making Aeroméxico the third airline in
Latin America to fly regularly to Asia, after
Varig and the now-defunct
VASP. Since Varig's demise, Aeroméxico is currently the only airline with this service. Aeroméxico resumed its Mexico City-Tijuana-Shanghai route twice a week as of 30 March 2010. Suspension of this flight was due to the
2009 flu pandemic. On 29 June 2006, the
International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and Aeroméxico announced that the airline would operate three
Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Aeroméxico's deliveries were scheduled to begin in early 2012. From 2006, Consorcio Aeroméxico S.A. de C.V., the parent company of Aeroméxico at the time, faced large debts and had no profits to pay them off, so it offered Aeroméxico for sale in 2007. In early October, a week-long auction was held, with
Grupo Financiero Banamex, a unit of
Citigroup, competing against the Saba family. On 17 October 2007, Banamex offered the highest bid and purchased the airline for US$249.1 million. In October 2010, Aeroméxico's largest competitor, Mexicana de Aviacion, filed for bankruptcy and was placed in administration.
2010s Delta/Aeroméxico alliance In 2011, Delta Air Lines and Aeroméxico signed an enhanced commercial alliance, building on an original agreement from 1994. The 2011 agreement provided for codeshare on all the carriers' Mexico–US flights; Delta investing US$65 million in Aeroméxico shares; and Delta gaining a seat on the Aeroméxico board of directors. • In March 2014, the airlines opened Tech Ops Mexico, a US$55 million joint maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility in
Queretaro City, Mexico. • In March 2015, the airlines filed applications for antitrust immunity, a first step in the creation of a US$1.5 billion joint cooperation agreement (JCA) that will allow Delta and Aeroméxico to jointly sell, and share costs and profits on all Mexico–U.S. routes. • In February 2017, Delta announced an offer to acquire additional shares of Aeroméxico, up to 49%. • On 8 May 2017, the joint commercial agreement went into effect, whereby the airlines share information and jointly determine routes and pricing on all U.S.-Mexico flights, and share costs and profits. The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (sourced from the
ILFC order book) in early August 2013 and officially launched commercial service on 1 October 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, the remaining eight were delivered (seven leased and two owned by Aeroméxico outright). In September 2016, Aeroméxico received its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. This particular frame, registered XA-ADL, is named after and painted in a unique commemorating
Quetzalcoatl, a major figure in
Aztec culture of pre-Hispanic Mexico, as the result of a "Design in the Air" competition hosted by the airline inviting students at select universities in Mexico to submit a potential design to be painted on the airframe.
Branded fares In February 2018, Aeroméxico introduced a new branded fares structure, which included a new Basic fare that did not contain a checked luggage allowance, nor did it allow for seat assignments, upgrades, or changes.
2020 Bankruptcy The
COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected the global aviation industry, including Aeroméxico. Aeroméxico's stock dropped during first half of 2020 and rumors about bankruptcy. On June 30, Aeroméxico voluntarily filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. However, day-to-day operations continued as the company restructured. Existing tickets were honored and employees continued to be paid as usual. On July 1, 2021, shareholder
Delta Air Lines announced it would purchase $185 million of the Mexican airline's Chapter 11 debt. On August 28, 2024, Aeroméxico unveiled a new livery in celebration of the airline's 90th anniversary. ==Corporate affairs==