The FAA decided that Mexico’s safety classification is now “Category 2”, thus the Mexican industry is widely affected. They will not be able to offer new services or routes in the United States.
The United States announced on Tuesday that it lowered Mexico’s air safety rating, thereby prohibiting Mexican carriers from offering new services or routes in its territory.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the measure also prevents US airlines from marketing and selling tickets with Mexican partner airlines, although it does not affect the existing service of Mexican companies to the United States.
“The FAA will increase its scrutiny of the flights of Mexican airlines to the United States,” the US regulator said in a statement, noting that it found “several areas” lacking in terms of air safety.
According to their assessment, the Mexican government does not comply with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations entity that regulates global aeronautics.
Consequently, the FAA decided that Mexico’s safety classification is now “Category 2” instead of “Category 1”.
The Mexican government assured on its side that the country hopes to resolve shortly the concerns that led to the adoption of the measure.
The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) “will take advantage of the willingness expressed by the US agency to provide its experience, and continue efforts to recover Category 1 as soon as possible,” said the Ministry of Communications and Transportation in a statement. .
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had said on Monday that the United States should not downgrade the rating, as his country is “complying with all the rules” and “requirements.”
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“However, there are interests, because those who benefit when there is a measure of these are the US airlines,” he said in his daily conference.
López Obrador ruled out that the decision could seriously affect Mexican companies, because, according to him, they are more dedicated to internal transport and there is an increase in the number of flights after a reduction due to the pandemic.
cautious companies
Aeromexico, the largest aviation company in the Latin American country, reported this Tuesday in a statement that its “operations to and from the United States will not be affected” by this measure.
The airline also expressed its willingness to support the aeronautical authorities of Mexico “to recover Category 1 for the benefit of the industry.”
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsFor its part, Volaris, another major low-cost Mexican airline, noted on Twitter that the FAA’s category adjustment “is related to factors external to Mexican airlines.”
On Monday, the company had highlighted the “enormous progress made in recent months on the observations made by the US authority”, and considered that there was an “opportunity to build a better aviation in the country.”
Meanwhile, after stating that the demotion is for Mexico and its aeronautical authority, the Union Association of Pilots Aviators of Mexico guaranteed that its 1,900 active members meet “the highest safety standards.”
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Willingness to help
The downgrade means that Mexico’s laws or regulations do not guarantee “minimum national international security standards” or that “the civil aviation authority lacks one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record keeping, inspection procedures or solving security problems, ”added the FAA in turn.
The US regulatory agency, which conducted an evaluation between October 2020 and February 2021, said it was ready to help its Mexican counterpart, the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), to improve its supervision system to return to the “Category 1″.
“The FAA is fully committed to helping the Mexican aeronautical authority improve its safety oversight system to a level that meets ICAO standards,” he said.
The United States evaluates the civil aviation authorities of all countries with airlines that have requested to fly to their territory, or already have operations or agreements to do so.
“Assessments determine whether international civil aviation authorities comply with ICAO minimum safety standards, not with FAA regulations,” explained the US regulatory agency.
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