It was Mexico's biggest airline and flag carrier before ceasing operations on August 28, 2010, leaving competitor Aeroméxico as a de facto monopoly.

[7] Over the three years prior to ceasing operations, the Mexicana group had increased their share of what was a burgeoning domestic market, from around 22% at the beginning of 2007 to somewhere between 28% and 30% for most of their final 12 months.

In February 1929, Juan Trippe of Pan Am took over the majority of the airline's stock, and the company opened its first international route, with service to the United States.

The 1950s, saw the airline's growth slow, though the fleet was modernized with the addition of Douglas DC-6s, and staff training improved with the opening of a flight attendant school.

In 1967, the airline was serving six destinations in the U.S. including Corpus Christi, Dallas and San Antonio in Texas as well as Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, and was also flying internationally to Havana, Cuba and Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica.

[12][16] In 1984, construction of the company's new corporate headquarters on Xola Avenue, Mexico City finished – the resulting 30-story building was designed to resemble an air traffic control tower.

In March 1986, a Boeing 727, Mexicana Flight 940, en route to Puerto Vallarta caught fire in-flight and crashed in the mountains of western Mexico, killing everyone on board.

In 1996, the assorted color scheme was dropped in favor of green tails with white on the majority of the plane and the word "Mexicana" in black letters.

It officially joined the Star Alliance in 2000 amid much fanfare, only to exit in March 2004 in response to rapidly changing market conditions related to United Airlines bankruptcy, and the aftershocks of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

However, Mexicana's owners rejected the offer possibly[dubious – discuss] because another Iberia-owned Latin-American airline, Viasa of Venezuela, had gone bankrupt under Iberia's ownership.

In addition, Mexicana announced a Mexico City to Madrid route to compete with Aeromexico and complement its partner's (Iberia) existing service.

On November 27, 2008, as part of a restructuring of Mexicana, it was announced that Click would stop operating as a separate Low-Cost airline and begin serving domestic destinations in Mexico as a regional feeder under the name MexicanaClick.

On August 5, 2010, Mexicana filed a motion to the Superior Court of Quebec (Commercial Division) of the District of Montreal to obtain the recognition of foreign proceedings regarding Section 46 and following of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”).

[26] The last Mexicana scheduled operation took place on August 28, 2010, with flight 866, departing Mexico City to Toronto, Canada at 4:15 PM (CST) on an Airbus A319-112 (XA-MXI).

In November 2010, PC Capital SAPI, a Mexican private-equity firm, offered unions and other creditors a 1.9 billion peso ($155 million) proposal to rescue the bankrupt airline.

Creditors including Grupo Financiero Banorte SAB and Mexican development bank Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior SNC viewed the proposal favorably, as did the government.

[36] Barona stated that Mexicana would resume operations in December 2011, with an aggressive business plan to regain all the territory lost, beginning with 9 Airbus A320s, and increasing the fleet size to 100 airplanes in 18 months.

[40] On April 4, 2014, the Federal Judiciary Council announced that a judge declared the end of the bankruptcy proceedings due to a lack of credible investors.

[45] Miguel Ángel Yúdico Colín, secretary general of an aviation national union organization, has stated that investors will show interest in investing and operating once the business plan has been finalized.

As part of Mexico president Andrés Manuel López Obrador's plan, the deal would allow the resumption of the airline's operations as a military-operated commercial carrier, and acquire buildings for training and simulation purposes.

[53] In July 2023, it was originally reported that the "Mexicana" revival brand would no longer be used after difficulties of reaching a deal with former workers, and slow processing, and the Mexican military would instead operate a new airline, called "Aerolínea Maya".

[61] The administration of president and owner Gastón Azcárraga attributed Mexicana's flight cuts and possible bankruptcy to high labor costs.

[62] Azácarraga quickly left the company, leaving employees to deal with a new unknown owner, Tenedora K, which had no resources to restart operations.

On December 21, 2010 a Supreme Court Judge ordered the detention of former CEO Manuel Borja Chico for a 54 million peso tax evasion under his administration.

The administration of new President Enrique Peña Nieto declared that the government would investigate Mexicana's bankruptcy and find those responsible in parallel with restructuring the airline.

On February 19, 2014, Mexico's attorney general's office asked a federal judge to issue an arrest warrant for the former owner and president Azcárraga for suspected money laundering while running Mexicana.

Azcárraga – whose relatives control media giants Televisa and Univision – remains a fugitive of Mexican justice living in luxury in the United States.

The plane, flying the Tapachula to Mexico City leg, crashed during landing, killing all 23 occupants, including actress Blanca Estela Pavon.

[83][84] On September 21, 1969, Flight 801 another Mexicana Boeing 727-64, with tail number XA-SEJ, crashed short of the runway 23L at Mexico City International Airport.

After reaching an altitude of 31,000 feet, a tire in the left main landing gear burst and crippled the plane's controls, causing an in-flight fire and an explosive decompression in the process.