Mexico Fails United States’ Airspace Safety Review As Airport Saturation Persists

After failing yet another technical evaluation just last week, Mexico has failed to restore its Category 1 aviation safety certificate with US aviation authorities. This means Mexico will retain its Category 2 ranking, which it was demoted to in May 2021.

The inability of the Mexican government to reclaim its category 1 status will have a direct impact on the airline sector because, with category 2 status, Mexican carriers such as Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris are not permitted to launch new flights to the United States.

Retaining category 2 status will have a direct impact on Mexican airlines, since it would restrict them from adding additional routes to the United States, reducing the number of daily flights.

Downgrading in an aviation safety rating is not something a county wants for itself. The U.S. government has said that “Category 2 rating means that the country’s laws or regulations lack the necessary requirements to oversee the country’s air carriers in accordance with minimum international safety standards, or the civil aviation authority is lacking in one or more areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, inspection procedures, or the resolution of safety concerns.”(According to the FAA)

Mexico will have to operate with the routes it has, keeping travellers at the whim of US airlines and the routes they offer and, ideally, add.

Every year, millions of Americans visit Mexico as a tourism destination. This year alone, 4 million overseas visitors are scheduled to visit the country. Many of them are Americans.

With such high demand and airlines already stretched to capacity with the flights they do fly, filling the market to fulfil demand would be exceedingly challenging.