The hack carried out by the Guacamaya group to the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) has revealed information classified by the agency, such as plans to create a new state airline.
The information was confirmed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who during his morning conference on Tuesday, October 4, said that the project had recently been presented to him. “I just saw the project in Yucatan. 15 days ago they presented it to me,” explained the president.
After the leaks made by the Guacamaya hacker group, López Obrador has given more details about the new state airline that would be operated by the Army.
Which will be his name?
The president said during his morning conference on October 5 – one day after confirming the project – that he would like the new airline to be named after the extinct Mexicana de Aviación.
“It would be very good if the name of Mexicana de Aviación were used in this company that could possibly be created, so that it would not surprise you that, how are you going to have a public aviation company! Well, they had two,” López Obrador said, referring to Mexicana de Aviación and Aeronaves de México.
Who will be in charge of the new Sedena airline?
The company Grupo Aeroportuario, Ferroviario y de Servicios Auxiliares Olmeca-Maya-Mexica SA de CV will operate the new airline, according to leaked information that was subsequently corroborated by López Obrador.
“Work is being done on that, it is the possibility of having a project to have an airline that will be managed by the same company (Olmeca Maya Mexica) that will be in charge of the Mayan Train and the Felipe Ángeles airports and the one in Tulum,” López Obrador said in his morning conference.
In February, the president announced the creation of the Airport, Railway and Auxiliary Services Group Olmeca-Maya-Mexica SA de CV with the aim of taking charge of the administration of his government’s mega-projects.
In addition to the new airline, this company will operate the Mayan Train, the Felipe Ángeles, Tulum, Chetumal airports and “perhaps one or two more,” said the president.
How many planes will it have and when will it start operations?
The intention is that the new airline will start operations the following year with leased aircraft. López Obrador spoke of a fleet of 10 planes, among which would be the former Boeing 787 Dreamliner presidential plane .
The president explained that the new airline will operate routes “abandoned” by commercial airlines.
What will the profits be used for?
The expectation is that the new Sedena airline generates profits after the first year of operations and López Obrador said the profits of that company will be used for pensions for members of the Armed Forces.
Can Sedena have its own airline?
The president said that the intention for it to be an airline operated by a military company is to avoid future privatization. “It is not the same to take it away and privatize it as they did (past administrations) if it is in the hands of Communications than if it is in the hands of Defense,” the president said in his morning conference on October 5.
But this that today does not allow the operator of an airport to have its own airline.
Chapter III on concessions and permits of the Airports Law , establishes that “in no case, a group of concessionaires or permit holders of the air transport service, their controllers, subsidiaries or affiliates, may acquire directly or indirectly, through one or several operations of any nature, simultaneous or successive, the control of an airport concession company”.
The same restriction will apply “when a group of airport concessionaires participate in the capital of concessionaires or permit holders of air transport services”, refers to article 29 of the Law.
With information from Juan Tolentino and Lidia Arista
