The Pilots Association is requesting that the reduction of flights be reversed at AICM

Mexico’s College of Pilots said the reduction of flights or timeslots at Mexico City International Airport (AICM) was decided unilaterally and arbitrarily, so it should be retracted and an in-depth analysis done beforehand.

The organization considered that it is possible to adopt a reduction in flights until the winter season, October-April 2025, so that airlines prepare in advance so as not to affect AICM users and the companies that provide them with services.

“The haste with which this new reduction was announced, decided unilaterally and arbitrarily by the aviation authorities, without obtaining the unanimous consent of the airlines that use the slots, only serves to create a climate of unnecessary tension,” the school said in a statement. a permit.

He added that this climate adds to a sector already “severely affected” after degradation to Mexican Air Safety Category II, which was designated by the US Federal Aviation Administration 27 months ago.

The government reduces flights at AICM to 43 per hour

The Federal Aviation Agency (AFAC) has decided that starting in October, the maximum number of operations in AICM will be reduced from 52 to 43 per hour.

Last year, the agency had already reduced the number of operations allowed per hour from 61 to 52 amid government efforts to promote AIFA, a priority business inaugurated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on March 21, 2022.

FIFA has received criticism for its remoteness from downtown Mexico City and the lack of transportation options to get there.

The airport carried just 912,415 domestic and international passengers in 2022, 62% short of the target of 2.4 million passengers in the master development plan.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador defended the cut Thursday by discussing the dangers of saturation.

“The (Mexico City) airport is saturated, there are many operations, there are risks and we want to prevent them,” the president declared in his daily press conference.

In addition, he criticized the airlines for allegedly not honoring a promise they made to transfer operations from AICM to AIFA.

“A commitment was already made and they did not fulfill it, that is, it was already proposed to them and an agreement was reached that they would reduce the number of operations (in AICM), and instead of reducing they “increased” them, he noted.

is reading: AMLO advocates reducing flights at AICM to increase operations at AIFA

With information from Reuters