The plan to launch the new Mexicana de Aviación would have made the Mexican government look for a temporary solution to find planes for the state-owned carrier.
According to the newspaper Reforma, the Mexican Air Force (FAM) will transfer three of its Boeing 737s so that the airline can debut flights at the end of December.
The aircraft would be two Boeing 737-800 and a previous generation 737-300. Currently, the jets are used for military transport and will have to be converted in record time to be certified to carry passengers.
According to the head of Mexico’s civil aviation authority, the planes will be inspected soon. The first flights of the new Mexicana de Aviación should take place from December 26th.
When it announced in August the relaunch of the airline, which had gone bankrupt in 2010, the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador intended for it to debut in September.
To form its fleet, a leasing contract for 10 Boeing 737-800s would be signed, but the government was unable to finalize an agreement in time.
While looking for its own aircraft, Mexicana borrowed an Embraer ERJ 145 jet from the airline TAR so that it could be used to obtain the Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
Also according to local media, two TAR jets should be contracted on wet leasing to support the initial air network.
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Mexicana de Aviación is an unusual bet by Obrador, who intends to offer much more affordable air tickets than private airlines.
The airline was the second largest in the country, behind only Aeroméxico, when it collapsed almost 14 years ago.
