Global General

Troubled Mexican airline to cut staff by 70 pct

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-23 12:50
Large Medium Small

MEXICO CITY,  -- Mexican Airlines (CMA) will relaunch with a new owner and a 70 percent staff cut, Lizette Clavel, the leader of the airline stewards' union told Mexico's Radio Formula on Monday.

Clavel's Aviation Stewards Union Association (ASSA) owns a large chunk of CMA's stock.

Related readings:
Troubled Mexican airline to cut staff by 70 pct 5 die, 2 injured in Mexican army-gangsters shootout
Troubled Mexican airline to cut staff by 70 pct Six die in Mexican department store fire: reports
Troubled Mexican airline to cut staff by 70 pct 20 killed over weekend in Mexican border city
Troubled Mexican airline to cut staff by 70 pct 15 people killed in latest Mexican massacre
CMA stopped its flights on August 28 and was tentatively sold to a firm called Tenedora K. But when Tenedora K. decided that its best option was to shut the firm down, unions, managers and the government began seeking a different potential investor.

"Both the ASSA and the pilot's union have accepted a proposal by PC Capital, a private equity firm for buying, selling and restructuring companies, to restart CMA's operations," Clavel said on Monday.

With union approval in place, PC Capital and CMA are in a position to sign an agreement and the firm may resume flights again as soon as December, she said.

The firm now has 42 aircraft. After the relaunch, CMA will only use 30  aircraft once it is fully operational. Only 375 of the current 1,500 stewards would keep their jobs, she added.

It will fly six US routes and no more than five within Mexico. Prior to closure, the airline also flew to the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Europe.