Aeroméxico

Is Aeroméxico safe?

Yes. No one on board an Aeroméxico flight has died in 40 years, and its last accident with any deaths, a 2000 overrun that killed four people on the ground, was 26 years ago. Its fleet of Boeing 787s and 737s averages 8.6 years, younger than most US airlines. It loses points on oversight, because the FAA judged Mexico's regulator below international standards from 2021 to 2023, and on the 2018 Durango crash of a regional jet flown by its Aeroméxico Connect subsidiary, in which everyone survived. We score it 78.

What happened at Durango in 2018?

Flight 2431 to Mexico City was an Embraer E190 flown by Aeroméxico Connect, the group's regional airline, which holds a separate certificate under the name Aerolitoral. On 31 July 2018 it took off in a fast-changing storm. Just after lifting off it met a tailwind gust of about 22 knots, lost speed and lift, and hit the ground to the left of the runway. Both engines broke off and fire broke out. All 103 people got out; 14 were seriously injured.

Mexico's investigators named low-level windshear as the cause, but their list of crew failings is the part that matters for safety. The captain was giving instruction he was not qualified to give and had handed the co-pilot's seat and the flying to a pilot who was neither certified nor licensed for the aircraft. The crew did not follow the rules for a sterile cockpit or for taking off in windshear. The report also faulted the control tower for not passing on the changing winds.

What did the FAA downgrade mean?

In May 2021 the FAA moved Mexico from Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary to Category 2, saying its aviation authority lacked the rules, staff or inspection practices to meet ICAO minimums. Mexican airlines kept flying to the US but could not add routes or US-registered aircraft. Mexico rewrote its civil aviation law in May 2023, the FAA finished its audit on 2 June and restored Category 1 on 14 September 2023, according to Aeroméxico's 2025 annual report.

The downgrade judged the regulator, not Aeroméxico. Aeroméxico was the first Mexican airline to pass the IATA IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit and both of its airlines remain registered. But a weaker regulator matters: it is the body that checks training records, which is where Durango went wrong.

The rest of the record

• Fatal accidents. Four DC-9 crashes between 1973 and 1986, the last being flight 498, which collided with a light aircraft that had strayed into Los Angeles airspace. All 64 on board, three in the Piper and 15 on the ground died.
• Reynosa, 6 October 2000. Flight 250, a DC-9, landed long and fast on a waterlogged runway during Tropical Storm Keith, overran and crashed through houses. All 88 on board survived, but four people on the ground were killed, which makes it Aeroméxico's last fatal accident under ICAO rules.
• Hull lossesHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary without deaths. A DC-9 at Monterrey (2002), and a 767-200 that struck its tail on takeoff from Madrid in April 2013 and could not pressurise; it returned safely but was written off.
• Recent incidents. In February 2024 a 737-800 and a Cessna 421 came within about 300 feet vertically near Tapachula. In March 2026 a 737 MAX 9 on a fast, steep approach to Puerto Vallarta went around, then descended again to about 700 feet before climbing away. Both are under investigation.

Aeroméxico went through Chapter 11 from 2020 to 2022 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2025. The fleet grew younger through the restructuring, with new 737 MAX and 787 deliveries.

How old is the fleet?

At the end of 2025 Aeroméxico flew 165 aircraft: 22 787-8s and 787-9s on long-haul routes, 109 737s split between the 737-800 and the MAX 8 and MAX 9, and 34 E190s at Connect. Connect's E190s are the oldest part of the fleet, around 16 years, and Aeroméxico plans to replace much of their flying from Mexico City with larger 737 MAX jets.

How to fly Aeroméxico safely

Most trips connect through Mexico City, a high-altitude airport with frequent afternoon thunderstorms from June to September. Morning departures are less likely to meet storms and the delays and holding that follow them. On Connect E190s, which often serve smaller mountain airports, keep your belt fastened and listen to the exit briefing: the Durango passengers had seconds to get out before fire spread.

How we scored it

No fatal accident in the last 20 years, and none with deaths on board since 1986, keeps the accident record at 82, held back by two written-off jets since 2013. The fleet is young (82). Oversight (74) reflects Mexico's two years in Category 2FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, and the Mexico City hub pulls down the operating environment (70). Compare Copa at 85 and Delta, Aeroméxico's US partner.