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Mexicana Airlines halts flights to Guadalajara

By JOHN COX, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jcox@bakersfield.com | Monday, Apr 28 2008 6:44 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Apr 29 2008 7:13 AM

Mexicana Airlines will halt flights between Bakersfield and Guadalajara at least temporarily starting next week, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

High fuel costs prompted the decision to suspend flights for 30 days while the company re-evaluates the service, said Teresa Hitchcock, analysis and marketing manager for Kern County Airports, adding that she learned of the suspension Friday.

Since launching the service 13 months ago, Mexicana has struggled to fill flights from Meadows Field International Airport to Guadalajara, Hitchcock said.

Bakersfield businessman Edward Herrera, who helped lobby the airline to begin the service, was disappointed at the news.

“I think with the economy, people are just, they’re not traveling right now,” he said.

May 7 is when the suspension takes effect, said the airline spokeswoman, Theresa Bravo.

Expensive fuel has led to similar suspensions at other airports, Hitchcock said. She added that Mexicana has been able to increase passenger loads by lowering fares, but that bookings would fall off whenever it raised prices in an attempt to achieve profitability.

The company may want to use the 30-month interim period to explore marketing the flights to people vacationing in other parts of Mexico, Hitchcock said.

“There are definitely things that they could do and take a look at whether some of these marketing strategies might work,” she said.

Mexicana started flying nonstop three times a week between Bakersfield and Guadalajara in late March 2007.

Herrera expressed hope that another airline will pick up the service if Mexicana bows out.

“Somebody will pick it up,” he said. “I think it’s a valuable route.”