American Airlines and
Mexicana de Aviacion today begin codesharing on each other’s flights
between the United States and Mexico, the first phase of a wide-ranging
codesharing arrangement that will strengthen each carrier’s route system
and provide increased flight options to customers of both airlines.

In this first phase beginning today, American and Mexicana are placing
their codes on each other’s nonstop transborder flights between the United
States and Mexico. The two carriers currently serve a total of 53 nonstop
transborder markets.

Soon, in subsequent phases, American will place its “AA” code on
Mexicana’s connecting flights within Mexico to popular destinations such
as Huatulco, Merida, Oaxaca, Tampico and Veracruz. Mexicana, for its part,
will place its “MX” code on American’s flights connecting from Mexicana’s
U.S. gateways to important markets within the United States, as well as to
points beyond the United States served by American.

In addition to the codesharing beginning today, American and Mexicana on
April 1 implemented a reciprocal frequent-flyer arrangement that enables
members to accrue and redeem miles in American’s AAdvantage(R) program or
Mexicana’s Frecuenta(R) program on each other’s network, including more
than 500 round-trips per week between the United States and Mexico.

“American Airlines has long had a significant presence in Mexico, and with
this codeshare with Mexicana—the leading carrier in Mexico—we’ll be
able to offer our customers even more destinations there and more
convenient schedules,” said Henry Joyner, American’s senior vice
president-Planning. “That, in turn, should help boost traffic on our
existing routes into Mexico, as well as on our domestic network as we feed
more Mexicana flights. Ultimately, it could drive future growth at
American.”

Said Fabricio Cojuc, senior vice president-Alliances for Mexicana: “At
Mexicana, we are very satisfied and proud with this new alliance because
working closely together with American Airlines provides Mexicana with
more strength and competitiveness in our own markets. Beginning today, we
offer our passengers more connectivity and better flying options. This
added value will attract important business traffic as well as leisure
traffic to our business centers and our world famous resorts.”

The codesharing arrangement was formally approved by the U.S. Department
of Transportation on April 29, and the two carriers are moving quickly to
implement its various features. Under the terms of the agreement, American
is permitted to place its code in 31 nonstop transborder markets served by
Mexicana, as well as in up to 30 cities within Mexico. Mexicana is
permitted to place its code in 22 transborder markets served by American,
as well as in 51 cities within the United States. In addition, Mexicana is
able to place its code on up to 56 third-country destinations served by
American.

Customers benefit from codesharing because airlines are able to coordinate
schedules, and handle baggage and ticketing more efficiently. Consumers
can book flights to more destinations as if they were being served by a
single carrier.
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