American Airlines began service between the United States and Mexico 12 years after its foundation in 1930. The inaugural flight to Monterrey, with continuing service to Mexico City, took off from Dallas, Texas on September 8, 1942.
American began operations in Mexico with 20 employees in Mexico City and Monterrey. Just one year later, the airline had grown to 168 employees working in sales, traffic and cargo. Today it has 840 employees in this country.
Currently, American Airlines and American Eagle serve 18 destinations in Mexico. The airline will add a new destination, Puebla, in November for a total of 364 weekly flights between its Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles hubs and 18 Mexican destinations.Last week, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Anthony Wayne joined Mexican Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara Manzo, American Airlines Vice President for Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, Art Torno, and American Airlines General Director for Mexico Tony Gutierrez, at the Torre Mayor in Mexico City for a dinner celebrating American’s seven decades of Mexican operations.
“Mexico was American’s second international destination, and today, 70 years after our first flight, we reiterate our commitment to the country,” said Torno.
“Mexico is at the heart of our efforts to attract more visitors to the United States,” said Wayne. “Mexico is the number two source of international visitors for the United States, with 13.6 million Mexicans traveling to the United States in 2011, accounting for over 21 percent of visitor volume. And we are working to attract more of Mexico’s tourists, businesspeople, and students to visit, study, and do business.”
As part of the anniversary celebrations, American is offering its customers a series of deals and promotions for travel between the United States and Mexico. For more information on these discounted fares, see your travel agent or go to www.aa.com.