FAA Delays The Possible Recertification Of Mexico’s Category 1 Status

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is delaying the Technical Review that could allow Mexico to recover its Category 1 status. On Monday, the Mexican civil aviation authority (AFAC) announced that the FAA had notified that the review would be postponed for a few weeks. What does this mean for the Mexican aviation industry? Let’s find out.

The delay

The FAA was supposed to do a technical review on the Mexican civil aviation authority between May 23 and 27. With this review, the FAA auditors would evaluate if the Mexican authorities had improved its safety oversight system to a level that meets the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards. If it has, it would pave the way for Mexico to regain its Category 1 status.

On May 25, 2021, the FAA downgraded Mexico’s rating to Category 2 from Category 1 after identifying some issues in the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) process. Being in Category 2 prohibits any new services and routes from Mexican air carriers. Additionally, US airlines can’t market and sell tickets with their names and designator codes on Mexican-operated flights. The FAA has increased its scrutiny of Mexican airline flights to the United States.

A year ago, the FAA downgraded Mexico’s safety rating to Category 2. Photo: Guillermo Quiroz Martínez via @gquimar.

The technical review

AFAC did not say when the Technical Review will take place now that the FAA delayed it a couple of weeks.

The purpose of this visit by FAA experts is to assess the current status of AFAC in several areas. If the results are positive, they will make it possible to move on to the last phase, consisting of a new audit, and, with this procedure, be in a position to regain Category 1 status in operational safety, granted by the FAA.

When the FAA first held the IASA audit, it found 28 deficiencies from the Mexican authorities.

According to the Mexican civil aviation body,

“It is important to mention that the 28 findings determined during the audit carried out between October 2020, and February 2021 were closed in their entirety during the last technical assistance visit carried out last April. However, the AFAC staff is continuously improving to ensure a positive result in the next audit. The AFAC is ready to receive the experts when they determine and address their observations immediately.

Market share loss

After a year of being downgraded to Category 2, the Mexican airline industry has felt the impact. According to a report released by local media outlet Milenio, the Mexican carriers lost a substantial fraction of the market share between Mexico and the United States.

The participation from Mexican airlines fell from 31.6% to 17.6%, which also financially impacted the airlines.

According to Fernando Gómez, an aviation analyst, the Mexican carriers serving the US market (Aeromar, Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris) have lost around five billion pesos (approximately US$242 million) in capacity that could have been allocated to flights to this country.

Currently, it is expected that Mexico may not be able to recover its Category 1 status until the end of the year, most likely November. Nonetheless, with this new delay, the process could very easily drag on well into 2023, further harming the Mexican airline industry.

When do you expect Mexico to regain its Category 1 status? Let us know in the comments below.

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