Mexicana Airlines will ground all flights by noon today local time, said Nuevo Grupo Aeronautico SA, the holding company for the airline.
The suspension will affect all operations, including the low-cost airlines MexicanaClick and Mexicana Link, the company said Friday in an e-mailed statement.
Mexicana has operations at Denver International Airport.
Tenedora K, the group of investors that bought the majority of Mexicana last week, will seek additional capital to inject into the company, Mexico Communications and Transportation Minister Juan Molinar Horcasitas said separately. Mexicana started reducing flights Friday.
The group of investors acquired a majority stake on Aug. 20, and the country’s pilots union holds 5 percent.
Mexicana filed for protection from creditors in Mexico and under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on Aug. 3 after executives said they had failed to reach cost-saving agreements with labor unions.
Tenedora K, which was formed to buy Mexicana, said last week that the purchase was “the first step in order to establish the conditions that will eventually allow for a process of restructuring.” The Mexican companies Grupo Industrial Omega SA and Grupo Arizan are among Tenedora K’s investors, according to a statement. The sellers included Grupo Posadas SAB, Mexico’s largest hotel operator.
The Chapter 15 petition, which bars U.S. creditors from seizing jets or canceling contracts, listed more than $500 million in assets and $1 billion in debt.
