Star Alliance May Remove Mexicana After Break With United Air
Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Star Alliance will discuss removing Mexicana de Aviacion SA after Mexico's biggest international carrier yesterday ended a code-sharing agreement with United Airlines Inc.
The members of the alliance, which include United, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Singapore Airlines Ltd., may end Mexicana's agreement at a meeting in Frankfurt on Nov. 13, the alliance said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. The Star Alliance, the world's biggest airline grouping, has 15 members that have agreed to unify ticketing and scheduling.
Removal from the Star Alliance would be a further blow to Mexico's efforts to sell state-owned Mexicana and its sister airline AeroMexico SA. Both carriers are controlled by state holding company Cintra SA, which lost 3 billion pesos ($269 million) in 2001 and 2002 combined, according to Bloomberg data.
Mexico's finance ministry hired Merrill Lynch & Co. in May 2002 to try for the second time to sell the two airlines, after the investment bank failed to find a buyer the previous year.
What I can't figure out-- why would Mexicana do such a boneheaded thing? Any insight???
