Martha Martinez/Reformation Agency
Thursday, April 20, 2023 | 06:29
Mexico City.- The United Commissions for Communications and Transportation, Economy and Infrastructure of the Chamber of Deputies approved an opinion on civil aviation that eliminates cabotage, but maintains the allocation figure, which would facilitate the operation of an official airline.
“The person in charge of the Secretariat can grant assignment titles to the parastatal entities of the Federal Public Administration to provide the public service of regular national air transport,” says the opinion imposed by Morena deputies and their allies, who prepared an alternate text to the one presented by the Communications and Transportation Commission.
The reform project to the Airport Law and the Civil Aviation Law with which the federal government seeks to recover Category 1 in aviation safety was approved with 57 votes in favor, four against and 45 abstentions from PAN, PRI and PRD.
The text also states that, through the figure of assignment, parastatal companies can manage, operate, exploit and even build airports without bidding processes involved.
“The person in charge of the Secretariat can grant assignment titles to the parastatal entities of the Federal Public Administration, without being subject to the public bidding procedure, for the administration, operation, exploitation and, where appropriate, construction of airports,” it indicates.
In both cases, the project establishes that the assignment title will be for an indefinite period and can only be concluded when it is irrefutably proven that there is no cause of public utility, public interest, general interest, social interest to safeguard or for reasons of national security.
It also states that the assigned entity will have the same obligations as the concessionaires in accordance with the law and its regulations, but may not transfer their rights and obligations to third parties, private individuals or legal entities.
The United Commissions put to a vote which opinion they would put up for discussion, since there were two projects: one presented by the Communications and Transportation Commission, chaired by PAN member Víctor Pérez, and another by the Infrastructure Commission, chaired by PT member Reginaldo Sandoval.
The Opposition affirmed that, by procedure, it corresponded to the Communications Commission to present the opinion, since it was the first to be given a turn, but Morena and her allies pressured them to vote, since they had a majority. Finally, they put the project presented by the petista to a vote.
This despite the fact that according to some deputies, the correct process was to vote and, where appropriate, discard the one from the Communications and Transportation Commission, to later put the one presented by Reginaldo Sandoval for consideration.
In addition, the deputies included in the opinion reservations presented by the Morenista Yeidckol Polevnsky in the matter of agricultural fumigators before the opinion was voted in general.
During the discussion, PRI deputy Ildefonso Guajardo lamented that the federal government and the majority do not learn from the past, which has shown time and again the failure of government airlines.
“Isn’t it clear to us that the air market is a high-risk market, where we can’t put the Mexican tax at risk? Isn’t it clear to us that only two of the Mexican airlines are being competitive and the rest are having a deficit in its operations?, what is the insistence to recreate a government airline that has already shown us time and time again the failure in its operations schemes? Let’s not waste the money of the Mexicans that is urgent in other relevant areas, to be able to open this door,” he demanded.
The former Secretary of Economy warned the legislators that they are allowing an opinion that may be subject to amparos to pass to the plenary session, because it violates the Competition Law.
“We are repealing article 29 of the Airport Law, where a limit was placed on airlines, to be able to have control of the airport system, this gives us a process of specific advantages for those who, as an airline, today have a cap of five percent in the airport system, by removing 29, we would leave it unlimited and whoever controls the airport can be, well, the owner of an airline using it in their favor,” he said.
The deputy of Movimiento Ciudadano, Manuel Herrera, maintained that the inclusion of the allocation figure in the law is a setback, since the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) issued an opinion in which it recommended not to approve it, because it puts at risk competitiveness, free competition and generates undue advantages for the allocation of the State.
“Today it would be a great setback and it would be a very bad message that our country would give to the world if we generate special conditions for a new Mexican State airline, it has to have the same conditions and compete under equal circumstances,” he said.
The morenista Guadalupe Chavira stressed that it was the will of all parliamentary groups to eliminate the issue of cabotage from the opinion. However, she warned that it is a topic that cannot be left unfinished, which is why she called for an in-depth analysis of it.
Regarding the allocation figure, he affirmed that its inclusion in the law will allow the sector to be dynamized and that it is not only an entity that is paralyzing its operation.
