 | MEXICALI, Mexico - Among travelers, it's jokingly known as Aeromigrante - Migrant Air.
New discount airlines in Mexico are doing a brisk business shuttling migrants to the U.S. border, turning what was once a days-long trek into an easy hop for legions of workers, both legal and illegal.
"It's much more comfortable than the bus and about the same price," said Leopoldo Torres, 37, of Mexico City, as he stretched his legs aboard Volaris Flight 190 to the border city of He and a traveling companion, Julio Menéndez, paid $118 each for the three-hour flight. They planned to cross into the United States illegally through the California desert.
Such migrants have become bread-and-butter customers for airlines Volaris, Avolar, Alma, Viva Aerobus, Interjet and Click, all of which have started up in the past two years. Older carriers such as Aero California and Aviacsa have cut their own prices to compete.
"The most productive routes we have are cities where you have those passengers who are traveling with the idea of the American Dream," said Luis Ceceña, a spokesman for Avolar. About 70 percent of Avolar's passengers are migrants, he said.
For some airlines like Avolar, the emphasis on migrant travel was a conscious decision, with company officials structuring their routes and fares around migrants' needs, he said. For others, it was simply a side effect of low prices, which have opened up air travel to millions of poorer Mexicans.
The airlines say they treat migrants like any other passengers. The Mexican government has promised to try to slow emigration by creating jobs in Mexico. But by law, Mexican authorities and companies cannot impede the free travel of their fellow citizens, even if they suspect they are going to cross the U.S. border illegally.
Heading for the desert
Travelers planning to cross illegally are easy to spot. At the Hermosillo airport, a major crossroads for migrants headed to the Arizona desert, they are the men traveling in groups of three and four, wearing new sneakers or hiking boots and carrying nothing but backpacks.
"Altar! Naco! Nogales!" taxi dispatcher Javier Montaño shouted outside the airport as he directed travelers to vans headed to the main staging grounds for illegal border crossers.
Because of the increased traffic, Mexican immigration agents now check the IDs of all arriving passengers, even on domestic flights, to try to catch Central American migrants headed to the border. In Hermosillo, federal police conduct spot checks on the vans before they leave the airport.
"By law, we can't stop the Mexican (migrants)," police Officer Carlos Zequera Arias said. "But the Central Americans are starting to get on these flights, too."
Falling prices
Until the flood of discount airlines began in 2005, air travel in Mexico was too expensive for most poor Mexicans. A one-way flight from central Mexico to Tijuana ran $300 or more on the country's two flag carriers, Aeromexico and Mexicana.
For most migrants, getting to the border meant days of travel on long-distance buses - or for the very poor, a harrowing and illegal ride on Mexico's railways while clinging to a freight car.
The discount airlines cut costs by copying the business model of U.S. carrier Southwest Airlines. They fly out of smaller airports, make several stops on the same trip, bypass travel-agent fees by selling directly to customers, and concentrate on a few high-volume routes instead of a hub-and-spoke system.
Typical fares to Tijuana from Toluca, just east of Mexico City, are now around $150 on the discount airlines.
That has opened up air travel to millions of new customers, said José Calderoni, marketing director for Volaris. About one-third of the airline's passengers have never flown before, he said.
Overall, the number of Mexicans flying has jumped 36 percent since 2004. About 13.4 million people took domestic flights from January to June, according to Mexico's Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Processing.
The discount airlines have been adding planes and routes at a breakneck pace. Avolar has grown from one jetliner and three destinations to nine with 16 destinations. Viva Aerobus has 21 destinations and plans to double its fleet to 10 jets from five. Interjet has nine planes and says it will order 20 more. Alma has 15 regional jets and 25 destinations, Volaris has 12 planes and 17 destinations, while Click has 26 destinations with 18 planes and six on order.
Read further details @ http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1012migrantair1012.html |
| |
 | I am applying for a job in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia within a hotel chain as a Sales and Marketing Director. Could someone tell me what I should expect salary wise? I have no idea what is the going market rate and don't want to be done over and work for peanuts!
If you have any links online you could direct me too as well that would be great.
Thanks!
I'd rather not say who it is with but it's one of the big chains.
|
| |
 | Coming into this as someone who is mostly ignorant- a lover of music, who's been told too many times it makes an irresponsible career choice- I was wondering about the different type of positions in the music industry. I don't necessarily mean office jobs, but everything from corporate (what type of people usually intern at music records, what career paths are they generally on?) to things that are more in the field like festival promoters. (I know there are some that are a mix of office/field, which is what I'm really interested in.)
Any help/links to more informative sites would be appreciated!
|
| |
 | I will be graduating from college with a degree in Marketing and Media Management come this fall and I would like to know what my options are as far as a (good paying/exciting) career.
1 answer - Asked By: tiffani_fontaine - 7/29/2007 |
| |
| I am planning to get a Ph.D for advertising and related.
i just want to know, is if i get the Ph.D, does the 10 year experience requirement is still a problem, also, what else should i know about, to get this job?
Also, what courses should i take in collage to be eligible for this job?
|
| |
| Hi all, I am 16 year old British A Level student studying Business and Economics, IT and Science. After A Levels I really want to get into the advertising and marketing industry. But I don't know what qualifications you need or experience or anything really. So If anyone knows or has any advice, please let it be known.
Thanks :)
|
| |
 | I graduated with a bachelor in journalism and am almost done with a masters in media studies. I have an internship in marketing and would like to head into a career as a sales director or maketing director because they make large amounts of money. Can I become a sales director with these credentials or should I take a different route.
|
| |
| I know that a BA alone is barely sufficient but my question is what major would be a good first step towards becoming an Art Director? I was considering Creative Advertising but noticed that it wouldn't really prepare me for the filming/editing/directing of a video ad or photographing and using Photoshop. SO what major would offer a balance between the creative and the marketing side of advertising?
Please state your opinions on the subject.
|
| |
 | I have been doing design since 2000. However, I do not have many years at once place. I do have the talent, at least I believe I do.
I am wondering what it takes to become a creative director? I very much want to move forward in my visual arts career.
3 answers - Asked By: HealthyStealthy - 3/26/2009 |
| |
 | The Guardian and the Independent jobs pages on Thursdays are a good source of laughs. If you find seeing money being wasted funny that is!
|
| |
| I've been working for a year now. I graduated with a marketing major. How much should a 24 be making with a marketing major? I am working in print production but looking for somthing in marketing field.
|
| |
| I have to do a project on a job I am interested in. What school is required? I know I need mortuary science, and I read something about an associates degree in applied science? Whats the general salary range? What are the duties, and skills needed? Would I have to travel? Or move? Whats the typical day for a mortician? Thanks so much for anything I get back (:
|
| |
 | More so, The name of the person who comes up with an idea for a video-game and directs a team of talented game designers, of all aspects, towards turning the idea into a playable video-game.
I would like to know as I am very interested in this kind of job as I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head that I couldn't give birth to by myself.
Thanks for your time!
|
| |
| I know that if I want to get a job with a management consulting firm like mckinsey, bain, bcg, ect. that I should be studying finance, but I was wondering if I could get a job with a marketing degree.
Please state source or experience with answer. Thanks!
|
| |
| So, I'm slowly thinking about going into the show business as either a director, lyricist, or playwright. Right now, I'm daydreaming a musical adaption of a movie and I even wrote 2 songs for it. And I'm just noticing that I'm having a passion to make it into a Broadway show. In fact, maybe being a director,, lyricist, or playwright could be my calling. I've been thinking about directing some productions anyway.
What do you think? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, I'm in college right now, so what classes should I take? (I have to be a Theatre/English major, right? What about Music minor for lyricist?)
|
| |
 | I have a Bachelors of Arts in Business and Marketing. I graduated in 2006 and I still cannot find a decent job! Currently I'm working in a bank and although I'm excellent with numbers, I am not working to my full potential, it's very discouraging! Any suggestions at all? I don't get why it's taking so long for my career to begin! :(
1 answer - Asked By: ~goodgirl~ - 4/26/2010 |
| |
 | In the US, the state works for the people, not the other way around. When a private-sector union protests and strikes it is against a business or industry (and their stock holders) to pressure them into giving better pay and/or benefits in an open and competitive market. When state union workers protest, don't they realize they are protesting the people of the state? It is the people, not the politicians, who pay their salary. We the people are the board of directors of our country.
Then there's the partisanship associated with unions. Why should any money from state unions be allowed in politics? They are basically using money paid to employees by the state citizens (both republicans and democrats) to payoff a single party for special treatment.
Why is having a state union direct money to a campaign in repayment of favors any different than a politician forcing state employees to donate to their campaign directly in order to retain their jobs which is illegal?
3 answers - Asked By: Mark in Time - 3/13/2011 |
| |
| What kind of education would be needed to work there?
|
| |
| Do you need a degree in film or do you just go out there and call yourself a director (okay, maybe not exactly, but is there some other important process if you don't need a degree)? And I'm not talking about indie films or short films... I've already called myself a director for that stuff.
And if you DO need a degree, what's the best film school to go to? I'm thinking UCLA but they don't offer scholarships. Any other ideas?
Thanks!
|
| |
 |
What exactly does each do, what does their job entail, how are they involved in the creation of a film?
|
| |