Westair de México S.A de C.V. was a Mexican airline that operated cargo flights on behalf of

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the name ...

History

Westair de México was established in 1957 as Transportes Aéreos del Centro de México (TACMSA), but several technical problems delayed the start of operations to August 1978, operating with two

Cessna 404 The Cessna Model 404 Titan is an American twin-engined, light aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft. It was that company's largest twin piston-engined aircraft at the time of its development in the 1970s. Its US military designation is C-28, and ...

, a

Cessna 152 The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightly ...

and a Fuji FA200. In May 1987, TACMSA declared the end of their service, leaving their planes grounded in

Toluca airport Toluca International Airport, officially Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos International Airport is an international airport in Toluca, State of Mexico, Mexico. It is part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Airport Group, and it is being improved an ...

, their hub base; the airline remained inactive for more than three years, until July 1990 when it was acquired and rescued by the U.S airline West Air. It was renamed Westair de México and restarted service with two

Fairchild Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

, and although one Cessna 404 was kept it was used only as a crew trainer; the airline operated West Air flights (on behalf of FedEx) between Mexico City (their new hub from March 1991) and San Diego, receiving one additional Metroliner and one

Cessna 441 The Cessna 441 Conquest II is the first turboprop powered aircraft designed by Cessna, and was meant to fill the gap between their jets and piston-engined aircraft. It was developed in November 1974, with the first aircraft delivered in Septem ...

in August 1995; three of the Metroliners were painted in FedEx livery. On 16 March 2003, Westair de México filed for bankruptcy, although it still operated night-time cargo flights between Mexico City and Cancun (10:30 P.M - 3:16 A.M, 8:45 P.M - 10:28 P.M) with one of their aircraft from March 18; the airline's operation effectively ceased when their last airworthy aircraft crashed in Mexico City due to heavy fog and their grounded aircraft were returned to the lessor; West Air retired the certificate of Westair de México in May 2003, and currently only FedEx operates flights between San Diego and Mexico City.

Fleet

Upon the closure

*3 Fairchild Metroliner Cargo Version (3 tons capability, painted with FedEx scheme) *1 Fairchild Metroliner Passenger Version (26 seats, painted in white scheme) *1

(used only as crew trainer) *1

(used only as crew trainer)

Historic

*1 Fuji FA200 (used only as crew trainer)

References

External links