Saraí Cervantes / Reform Agency
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 | 22:24
Mexico City.- Mexico has become the worst country for aviation because it faces problems such as the lack of air operators and the reform that seeks to allow air cabotage.
“Cabotage is a concern that we have and that is not going to get us out of Category 2.
“What has to get us out of Category 2 is a true aeronautical policy, we seek to be taken into account, because the worst country in the world to do aviation is Mexico,” said José Humberto Gual, secretary general of the Union Association of Aviation Pilots (ASPA) of Mexico.
He explained that the reforms to the Civil Aviation and Airports Law, presented by the federal government to allow cabotage, are not going to help Mexico get out of Category 2 in air safety.
The initiative, he assured, is harmful to national interests and tax collection, as it will generate labor risks.
“We cannot afford to be wrong at this time, we ask legislators not to allow such modifications to the laws because it would affect 1.4 of the jobs generated by the industry and that contribute 3.5 of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is, generates 38 billion dollars”, he said during the forum “Legislative Policy on Aviation”, organized by deputies.
They warn unconstitutionality
For his part, Ramón Alcántara Flores, an expert lawyer in air safety, recalled that cabotage is not provided for in the Civil Aviation Agreement as a good practice.
Therefore, allowing cabotage gives rise to arbitrariness when granting authorizations to foreign permit holders who request it, since this can leave out national concessionaires and permit holders on routes of strategic interest.
That would be a clear violation of the equality of national airlines with respect to foreign ones.
“The proposal presented by the Government may violate article 133 of the Constitution, since Mexico has no reservation on this issue. Cabotage is a privilege, consequently there is a clear inequality for national airlines,” he emphasized.
He stressed that the provisions that try to regulate and make cabotage possible violate the Chicago Agreement and the country’s political constitution.
most expensive plane tickets
The ASPA leader also added that, in 2020, when the airline Emirates Airlines began to operate the Barcelona-Mexico route, it affected Aeroméxico, offering tickets at a price well below what they were on the market.
“It took the national operator out of the market, Aeroméxico could not compete with those prices. Later, when it no longer had competition, Emirates doubled ticket prices after 15 days, that will happen to us with cabotage,” he assured.
He also recalled that, in the last 20 years, various airlines have gone bankrupt. among them Mexicana de Aviación, Taesa, Aerocalifornia, Interjet, due to the lack of a State aeronautical policy.
Ángel Domínguez Catzín, president of the Mexican Association of Aviation Pilots (CPAM), added that Mexico lacks a public policy on aeronautics that reflects national needs and interests.
“The participation of foreign operators in domestic routes in the national airspace would put the security of Mexicans at risk, derived from the lack of technology and surveillance infrastructure,” he said.
