Aeroméxico Connect

When a small Embraer in Aeroméxico colors taxis to the runway in Mexico City, the departure board shows an AM flight number – but it is almost always operated by Aeroméxico Connect. For spotters, the regional subsidiary is a nice example of how brand, flight number and operating airline are not the same thing. Here you’ll learn where Connect comes from, what is in the fleet and how to assign the flights cleanly.

Aeroméxico Connect at a glance

Aeroméxico Connect is the regional airline of Mexican flag carrier Aeroméxico. Legally it still operates as Aerolitoral, S.A. de C.V. – the Connect brand name was only added in 2007. Its job is clearly defined: Connect flies the smaller routes where a Boeing 737 doesn’t pay off and brings passengers to the parent’s hubs. All flights are sold under the AM code; anyone booking a ticket often doesn’t even notice that a separate company is flying.

The main bases are Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara. From there it goes to numerous domestic destinations, plus a few cross-border routes, for example to the US. Through its parent, Connect is part of the SkyTeam network without being a full member itself.

From the Gulf Coast to regional subsidiary: the history

The roots are not in Mexico City but on the Gulf Coast. In 1988, Servicios Aéreos Litoral, or Aerolitoral for short, was founded in Veracruz. It started with four NAMC YS-11s – Japanese turboprops that hardly anyone knows from scheduled service today. In December 1990, Aerolitoral became a subsidiary of Aeroméxico; later, Monterrey rose to become one of the most important bases.

The 1990s were the era of small turboprops. From 1991, Aerolitoral flew the Fairchild Metro, a slim turboprop feeder, and grew with it to more than two dozen aircraft by the end of the decade. In 1996, a second Aeroméxico subsidiary was added: Aerovías de Poniente from Guadalajara was merged with Aerolitoral. From the end of 1997, Saab 340s followed and gradually replaced the Metros; the last Metros left the fleet at the end of 2003.

The jet age began in the mid-2000s. From 2004, Embraer ERJ 145s replaced the Saab 340s, and in 2007 Aeroméxico announced it would relaunch the subsidiary under the name Aeroméxico Connect – in time with the arrival of the first Embraer 190. More E190s followed from 2009. Later, the smaller Embraer E170 and three E175s briefly joined as well. By 2017, the ERJ 145s had been fully replaced.

The pandemic hit Connect hard too: Aeroméxico entered Chapter 11 proceedings in the US in June 2020, and flight operations continued during the restructuring. In the same year, the last E170s left the fleet. Since then, Connect has flown a pure E190 fleet.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code 5D: belongs to Aerolitoral but hardly appears in everyday use, because the flights are sold under AM numbers.
• ICAO code SLI: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and therefore on most trackers.
• Callsign COSTERA: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio – a leftover from the founding days on the coast.

This split is typical for regional subsidiaries. Marketing runs through the parent, flight operations through a separate company with its own operating certificate. How such arrangements work and why a flight number doesn’t tell you who is actually flying is explained in the article on codeshare flights.

The fleet: Embraer 190s in a two-class layout

Today the fleet is remarkably uniform. According to 2025 fleet data, Connect operates about 34 Embraer 190s, all in the same layout with 99 seats. The exact number varies by source and reference date, because some aircraft are leased and returned.

Type	Period	Seats	Status	Spotter note
Embraer 190	since 2007	99 (11 premier, 88 economy)	active, about 34 aircraft	Backbone of the fleet, being withdrawn on many routes from Mexico City
Embraer E170	2012–2020	–	historic	Shorter fuselage, only on archive photos now
Embraer E175	2013–2017	–	historic	Only three aircraft, a real rarity in the archive
Embraer ERJ 145	2004–2017	–	historic	Slim regional jet with rear-mounted engines
Saab 340	from 1997, 2000s	–	historic	Turboprop of the interim phase
Fairchild Metro	1990s–2003	–	historic	Small turboprop of the early years

The E190’s Clase Premier has eleven seats in a two-plus-one arrangement, while economy is a classic two plus two. That means no middle seats – one reason the E-Jets are popular with passengers. For Aeroméxico, they were long the means of connecting even cities with little demand with jet comfort. Since June 2025, Aeroméxico has also been retrofitting the E190s with Wi-Fi step by step. The manufacturer of all Connect jets is Embraer from Brazil.

Farewell to the E190 in Mexico City

The E190 is a phase-out model in the Aeroméxico network. In 2024, in documents for its planned return to the New York stock exchange, the airline announced it would pull the Connect jets from routes out of Mexico City and use larger Boeing 737 MAX 8s and 737 MAX 9s there. The background is the limited space at Mexico City Airport: Because hardly any additional slots can be had there, every departure with a larger aircraft brings more seats. Aeroméxico cited 181 seats in the 737 MAX 9 versus 99 in the E190 – an increase of a good 80 percent per departure, plus significantly more premium seats.

Before the pandemic, Aeroméxico had still considered replacing the regional jets with the new E2 generation such as the Embraer E195-E2 or an Airbus A220 – in the end the choice fell on the 737 MAX, which the parent already operates anyway. According to the airline, the E190s can instead be used more from Monterrey and Guadalajara.

Important for your planning: The changeover is happening step by step, and Aeroméxico is retrofitting the E190s with Wi-Fi in parallel – so the aircraft won’t disappear overnight. How many aircraft are still flying in the capital in October 2026 can’t be reliably quantified – check the current schedule before you build a trip specifically around Connect.

How to recognize Aeroméxico Connect

The livery only helps you halfway: Connect flies in the parent’s colors, with a dark blue tail and the stylized head of an Aztec eagle warrior. You’ll find more on alliance and group liveries in the article on alliance liveries. So the tail alone shows no difference from an Aeroméxico 737. Other features are decisive:

• The aircraft type: An Embraer 190 in Aeroméxico colors is practically always Connect. The parent itself flies Boeing 737s and 787s.
• The proportions: The E190 is clearly shorter and lower than a 737, with engines under the wing and a cabin with only four seats per row.
• The registration: Mexican commercial aircraft carry the prefix XA-. How to read a registration is explained in the guide Understanding aircraft registrations; you can read more about the prefixes in the article on country codes.
• The ICAO code: SLI instead of AMX on the tracker confirms the identification.

E190 or E170? How to tell the E-Jets apart

Because Connect used to fly E170s and E175s as well, you’ll find pictures of all three versions in the same colors in photo databases. All belong to the first E-Jet generation and look very similar. The main differences:

• Length: The E190 is visibly longer than the E170 and E175. Look at the row of windows between door and wing – on the E190 it is much longer.
• Landing gear and wing: The E190 has a larger wing and a sturdier main landing gear than its smaller sisters.
• Date of the photo: A Connect E170 after 2020 no longer exists, nor does an E175 after 2017.

You’ll find a detailed guide covering all versions in the guide Telling the E170, E175, E190 and E195 apart. If you’re generally unsure about small jets, start with Identifying regional jets.

Spotting Aeroméxico Connect

For spotters from Europe, Connect is a pure long-distance sighting: The airline flies mainly within Mexico and only on a few routes to nearby foreign countries, such as the US. You’ll find the greatest density at the three bases.

Mexico City is a special place for spotters: The airport sits at around 2,200 meters of elevation in the middle of the urban area, and aircraft need longer takeoff rolls in the thin air. How the runways are used depends on the wind – the guide to runway direction in use at the airport helps you judge it. Besides Connect and the parent, there you mainly meet the low-cost competition from Volaris and Viva Aerobus, which fly almost exclusively Airbus.

Putting it in context: Connect compared

Regional subsidiaries with E-Jets exist all over the continent. In the US, for example, Republic Airways flies large E170/E175 fleets for the network airlines, and Aeroméxico’s longtime partner Delta Air Lines also relies on regional partners for smaller routes. The difference: Connect is a true group subsidiary and flies exclusively for Aeroméxico, not for several clients.

Within Mexico, Connect was not the only regional airline for long. Aeromar flew ATR turboprops until it shut down in 2023 – today that makes Connect one of the last classic feeders in the country. How feeders and hubs interact is explained in the article Hub-and-spoke and point-to-point.

Common mix-ups

• Taking every Aeroméxico aircraft for the parent – an E190 in these colors flies for Connect.
• Equating the AM flight number with the operating airline – the ICAO code SLI shows who is really flying.
• Still expecting E170s at Connect – the E170 has not been in the fleet since 2020, the E175 since 2017.
• Confusing 5D with Aeroméxico – 5D belongs to the subsidiary, AM to the parent.
• Taking “COSTERA” for a separate airline – it is simply Connect’s callsign.
• Confusing the E190 and E195 – Connect flies no E195; a longer E-Jet in these colors is more likely a mistake in sorting.

Conclusion

Aeroméxico Connect is the quiet workhorse of the Aeroméxico network. Behind the AM flight numbers is the company Aerolitoral, which began in 1988 with Japanese turboprops on the Gulf Coast and today flies a pure Embraer 190 fleet. Because Aeroméxico is replacing the E190 in Mexico City with larger Boeing jets, a close look is especially worthwhile now – and if you note type and ICAO code as well, you assign every sighting cleanly.