Mexico City, Nov 27: Ten stewardesses with troubled Mexicana airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in August and suspended operations, launched a sultry aviation-themed calendar on Thursday in a bid to call attention to their own plight and that of their airline -- one of the world's oldest.
The 2011 calendar features glossy shots of the flight attendants, clad in bikinis and aviation shades or abbreviated uniforms, draped over propellers and striking racy poses in the cockpit.
It was the brainchild of 10-year Mexicana veteran Coral Perez.
Each of the 10 "aeromozas" - or flight attendants in Spanish - who ended up posing, forked out money from her own pockets to help cover the production costs of 100,000 pesos (about 8,000 US dollars).
"This calendar is to support all of those who lost their jobs, and it does not mean that we are going to solve their economic problems, it's a help," said Rosy Arcos during the presentation of the calendar in Mexico City on Thursday.
The calendar has sparked a media frenzy in Mexico, and the first run of 1,000 was sold out even before Thursday's launch.
A second edition of 3,000 calendars - which retail for 149 pesos, or about 12 US dollars, apiece - is in the works.
During an interview on Wednesday with The Associated Press, Luana Luvaji , one of the ten flight attendants said that although the future was uncertain, they wanted to let people know that they hoped to keep working until a solution was found for the ailing airline.
The calendar's release came on the heels of Mexicana's announcement that a restructuring proposal might allow it to resume some flights by mid-December.
Under the plan, just 30 percent of the company's personnel would be rehired.
Founded in 1921, shortly after Dutch carrier KLM and Australia's Qantas airline, Mexicana used to serve 65 destinations in Mexico, the United States, other parts of the Americas and Europe. AP
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