Mexico is on the blacklist for poor airport security

Air safety in Mexico is once again at the center of global attention. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has expressed concerns about security in the country, and included Mexico on a “blacklist,” along with Russia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Liberia, Armenia and Bhutan.

The ICAO noted that concerns focus on air navigation services, specifically on the lack of updating in Flight inspections of radio aids, used to determine the position of an aircraft in the air with respect to a ground station, helping the pilot to navigate in any weather conditions and to establish holding patterns and precise approaches.

So far, the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) has not issued any statement in this regard. According to Gerardo Herrera, an airline sector analyst and professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana, this lack of response represents a potential risk to maintaining Category 1, which allows Mexican airlines to expand their shared codes and increase their route offering in the United States.

«I have not seen any response from the (Mexican) authority indicating that they are going to address this matter. “They should have communicated immediately to reassure everyone, but there is no position,” he added. Given that presidential elections will be held in Mexico in less than two weeks, the specialist expresses concern that the ICAO warning will not have any response from the federal government and no measures will be taken in this regard.

This could result in “at any time, the FAA conducting an audit and Mexico being relegated to Category 2. This deficiency and call for attention places us in a marginal group of very lagging countries, whose practices hardly meet the standards.” international. Being in North America, our standards should not be compared with those of Russia, Zimbabwe or the Congo, but with those of the United States and Canada,” Herrera said.