The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SICT) stated that there is currently a deficit of between 300 and 350 air traffic controllers, despite having more airports in Mexico.
“Seneam currently has a deficit of almost 300 to 350 air traffic controllers, and an air traffic controller is not something that can be improvised; it’s actually a very particular vocation. So, these are serious issues that we already have, which is why we have been seeking modifications on how to make them more efficient and able to respond to the new conditions,” said Rogelio Jiménez Pons, Undersecretary of Transportation at SICT.
The official mentioned that, in this regard, they are seeking the decentralization of the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) and the Navigation Services in Mexican Airspace (Seneam).
“Both AFAC and Seneam generate enough resources, twice what Hacienda leaves them. So, being decentralized could eventually enable them to, first, address their technical needs. They are two institutions that have a lot to do with air safety and must be up-to-date,” he explained.
During his participation in Dialogues with Engineers from the College of Civil Engineers of Mexico (CICM), he mentioned that they will seek support from the sectors for this proposal so that these entities can be decentralized.
It is worth noting that a few days ago, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) published on its website a “Significant Safety Concern” (SSC), still unresolved, detected in the audit conducted in February and March, regarding the verification of radio aids for air navigation that AFAC must perform.
This concern is one of the 11 that ICAO has pointed out since this alert figure was created, and it is publicly available through its website. In this case, it involves AFAC as the responsible authority.
However, SICT stated that important supervisions have been carried out. It clarified that AFAC, together with Seneam, have conducted these air verifications over the past two months, which, it emphasized, “maintained correct operation in the air navigation equipment.”
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