late 1997. In 1998 new services to the United States were added from Piedras Negras. and from Chihuahua to Dallas. In early 1999, AeroLitoral was operating 29 Fairchild Metros and 6 Saab 340Bs. One Fairchild Metro XA-RYY had been converted to freighter and operations to Mexico City were resumed on behalf of Aeromexpress. In August 1999 a new CEO was appointed and Raúl Sáenz Campos replaced Carlos Treviño Treviño after a long time being at the airline. On December of the same year, the directive board decided to start a fleet renewal process, by replacing the first 3 Fairchild Metros . Early 2000s In the period between the years 2000 and 2002, 13 more Saab 340Bs were added to replace Metros, with a peak fleet of 22 Saab 340Bs. On the third quarter of 2001, services to San Diego via Mexicali, to Zacatecas via Puerto Vallarta, and Monterrey were launched. Nevertheless, these services were discontinued shortly after 9/11 Attacks. On September 6, 2001, there was an accident without any fatalities, it was a Saab 340B's with registration XA-ACK which crash-landed 15 miles southeast of Tijuana. The airplane suffered fuel starvation, due to a false indication in the flight deck fuel gauges, caused by a defective element on the system, reflecting more fuel than the aircraft actually had. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, AeroLitoral experienced a drop in air traffic and downsized the fleet in order to survive. Services to San Diego, El Paso, and Laredo were canceled. San Antonio, Phoenix, and Tucson were reduced, moreover with the growth of Aviacsa on the domestic market with its Boeing 737-200 fleet invading the most profitable routes from Monterrey to León, Ciudad Juárez, Culiacán, and Guadalajara. The small commuter experienced severe financial troubles, and in 2002, many employees were laid off, among them 50 pilots. In 2002, services to Los Angeles and Ontario, California were introduced on behalf of Aeroméxico, while services to Phoenix and Laredo were cancelled. In early 2003, with a fleet of 3 Fairchild Metro and 22 Saab 340Bs, the load factors were recovering as with many other airlines around the globe. That same year, AeroLitoral announced the acquisition of the first 5 Embraer ERJ 145, with deliveries starting in mid-2004. In December 2003, after operating a peak fleet for 13 years with 28 planes, the last 3 Fairchild Metro were retired. Early the next year, the first 3