Pedro Cerisola, Mexico's new secretary of transport and communications (SCT), has dashed the hopes of anyone who thought Vicente Fox's new government, which took office on 1 December, might de-rail the plan to split up Cintra, the holding company for Aeromexico and Mexicana.
"The SCT will not be the judge and will respect the decisions taken by organisations such as the Federal Competition Commission (CFC)," Cerisola told local reporters. He did not specifically mention Cintra, but he added that his agency did not intend to "shake up" important decisions already made by people with experience and capacity in such matters.
Juan Diez Canedo, Cintra's director general, added his own assurance that the change in Mexico's government would not change the holding company's future. Canedo says: "We are ready to continue with the sale of a separated Cintra."
Two members of the new Fox cabinet have former ties with Cintra. Pedro Cerisola, SCT head, was a director at Aeromexico, while Ernesto Martens, new secretary of energy, was Cintra's former head.
The only visible opponents of Cintra's breakup remain the airline unions. Their last hope may be a legislative commission, which has been holding hearings on Cintra and Mexican aviation. Fernando Sánchez, CFC president, has appeared frequently before this commission.
Underscoring his prediction in September that splitting Cintra would foster competition, Aviacsa, a second-tier domestic airline, has just unveiled plans to upgrade its fleet and expand. Sánchez nonetheless reassured delegates that breaking up Cintra is unlikely to threaten Aeromexico or Mexicana.
American Airlines is making serious noises about buying a stake in one of these airlines. In a recent speech before the Mexico-USA Chamber of Commerce, Don Carty, American's president, expressed his regret that his airline has no relations with either Aeromexico or Mexicana: "We have been observing this process [at Cintra] with extreme interest and think that there may be an opportunity to form our own partnership, so that we can reinforce our presence in Mexico," he says.
"We will invest whatever is necessary for a stake in one of the two Mexican airlines," said Arnold Grossman, American's international vice-president, after Carty's speech. American may find strong competition from Delta and United Airlines, who codeshare with Aeromexico and Mexicana respectively.
Source: Airline Business
