Captain Carranza's Goodwill Flight was in response to Colonel Lindberg's visit to Mexico in late 1927. On December 14th at 2:30 pm Charles Lindbergh completed his non-stop flight from Washington DC to Mexico City after a 27hr 14 min flight. To reciprocate the display of goodwill by the famous US pilot, a Mexican pilot would fly non-stop from Mexico City to Washington DC. Such was the thinking of a pioneer group of aviation enthusiasts who founded the Mexican Association of Aeronautics, among whose charter members was Emilio Carranza.

The Association was officially chartered on January 24th, 1928. The Mexican government considered the non-stop flight from Mexico City to Washington DC to be an absurd and unattainable goal. So members of the association had to raise the necessary funds from private parties. Because the government showed little interest, and the newly formed Mexican Association of Aeronautics did not have the financial resources to sponsor the flight, members of the Association decided to seek funding from a strong sponsor, such as a newspaper, a Chamber of Commerce, or a large corporation. After sounding out several prospects, the Excelsior newspaper eagerly agreed to sponsor the flight. Following endorsement by Excelsior, Mr. Alberto Mascareñas, CEO of Banco de Mexico pledged funding for the flight. By then the Excelsior had publicized its intent to sponsor the historic flight and received a groundswell of support.

During a special session of the Mexican Association of Aeronautics, held on February 13th, 1928 the Association initiated over sixty new members who pledged their support and assistance for the flight. On February 14th the Excelsior telegraphed Captain Carranza asking him to pilot the aircraft for this historic flight. Captain Carranza readily accepted the assignment from Guadalajara, where he was taking part in military operations.

The following May 18th, in the library of the Excelsior newspaper offices, members of the Technical Commission for the Goodwill Flight met. Present were General José Alvarez of the President's Chief of Staff, Mr. Juan Guillermo Villasana, Chief of the Civil Aviation Department, Mr. Octavio Amador, General Juan F. Azcárate, Major P.A. Agustin Castrejón, Mr. Andrés Ortiz, Mr. Jorge Méndez, Mr. Carlos Manero, Mr. José Fernández de Jáuregui, Mr. Eduardo I. Aguilar (general manager of the Excelsior), Mr. Gustavo Espinoza Mireles (Vice-President of the Compañíia Mexicana de Aviación), Mr. Octavio Amador, and Lieutenant P.A. José León. Several committees were formed, one to manage the finances, another to coordinate expansion of the runway, and others.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the Technical Commission was the runway expansion. Because of the thin air at Mexico City's approximately 10,000 ft in elevation, a very long runway was needed to get the fuel-laden aircraft in the air. A 5 km stretch of land had to be leveled, of which 3.5 km had to be perfectly level and flat. The committee had to accomplish this in less than 40 days and at the start of the summer's rainy season. The dedicated and tireless efforts of Mr. Andrés Ortiz, Mr. Jorge Méndez and Carlos Manero of the National Commission of Roads, and Mr. Octavio Amador of the Civil Aviation Department resulted in the timely completion of the runway expansion.

The Ryan airplane was selected for the flight, given the impressive performance of the Spirit of St. Louis over the Atlantic. Mr. Miguel Zuñiga, Manager of Foreign Sales of the Mahoney-Ryan Aircraft Corp. expedited the order of a B-1 Special for the flight. At the time, the factory had numerous backorders for airplanes just as Charles Lindbergh's and priority was given to Captain Carranza's airplane. Emilio Carranza flew to San Diego to see construction of the aircraft and to familiarize himself with every detail of the aircraft. Following a series of test flights with various fuel loads, Captain Carranza accepted delivery of the "Mexico-Excelsior" and prepared for the flight to Mexico City.