Mexican Engineers Will Support Authorities to Recover Category 1

The Association of Aeronautical Engineers (AIA) aims to support Mexico’s Federal Agency of Civil Aviation (AFAC) to recover the country’s Category 1 airspace safety rating. AIA claims to have a bill for civil aviation, which would complement AFAC’s lobbying efforts with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Almost four years ago, AIA had already started promoting its bill for civil aviation, seeking unsuccessfully to capture the attention from AFAC authorities, said to A21 David Almaguer Núñez, President, AIA. Currently, with the arrival of General Miguel Enrique Vallin Osuna to AFAC, “we are pushing to collaborate in this reform project, because we already have an advanced work and this would save time,” said Almaguer.

While several reforms have been passed, the current aviation law dates from 1994. AIA’s proposed Civil Aviation Law seeks to solve legal gaps concerning certain permits and certifications to manufacture aircraft and regulations around unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which are not taken into account by the current legislation, said Almaguer: “Basically, we want to help authorities to come out with a more complete document that helps the country’s aviation.”

AIA is also designing a rigid airship but has run into a problem as airship manufacturing in Mexico is not fully regulated. “There are big gaps. There is also a group of engineers who are collaborating on aerospace issues that the Civil Aviation Law does not contemplate,” said Almaguer. While AIA continues to approach AFAC to provide assistance, the Mexican regulators have told AIA that their help is not needed, he added.

While AIA participates in the Advisory Committee for Standardization and collaborates directly with AFAC in standards, regulations and circulars about the aeronautical sector, to date it has not received any draft or law proposal, said Almaguer.

The document presented by AIA to support AFAC has been developed since the administration of former president Enrique Peña Nieto. It includes proposals for better salaries and training for aeronautical personnel. However, with the new administration’s budget cuts, “they tore down this and it has been a reason for the country’s airspace rating downgrade to Category 2,” said Almaguer. The FAA downgraded Mexico’s category over a year and a half ago, limiting the growth of the country’s aviation industry.