https://www.milenio.com/politica/comuni ... de-pachuca

It is in spanish but it basically reads that around 30 airports in Mexico with be "occupied", (what ever that means) by the armed forces.
This in addition of mexican civil authority (Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil or AFAC) now being headed by a retired Mexican Air Force General, who was at the helm of that arm during the past federal administration, the construction and operation of the new Valle of Mexico airport, the new Tulum airport and running Chetumal and Palenque airports, and counting...

I think it became clear by the time de 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation that as much as military and civil aircraft need to share a national sovereign airspace, it was also necessary that each country had a national civil aviation authority, preferably under civilian administration.

The irony is the these news arrived exactly on the same day we "celebrate" Aviation Day in Mexico.

I am aware that civil aviation national authorities in several countries are, if not de facto controlled by the military, at least they have very tight links with them, but In Mexico I was borned 60 years ago and grew, there was a strong legal,cultural and administrative division between military and civil operations and authorities.

It seems to me that this will no longer be the case...shall I say unfourtunatly????

Is there any reason at all? Or is this random?

IceCream wrote:

Is there any reason at all? Or is this random?

It's all about consolidating power among those faithful to the President and hiding mistakes and corruption under the guise of national security.

Do we know which airports are impacted?

The example airport mentioned in the article (Pachuca, Hidalgo) doesn't have commercial air carrier service so I'm not sure it's a big deal either way. The large commercial airports in Mexico are managed by private companies under concession agreements with the Mexucan government so I would expect the concessionaires would strongly protest Sedena taking over at those airports.

jjbiv wrote:

The example airport mentioned in the article (Pachuca, Hidalgo) doesn't have commercial air carrier service so I'm not sure it's a big deal either way. The large commercial airports in Mexico are managed by private companies under concession agreements with the Mexucan government so I would expect the concessionaires would strongly protest Sedena taking over at those airports.

As much as I agree that Pachuca Airport doesn´t have scheduled commercial carrier air service, it does eventually get some charters and I strongly believe that regardless of the size or type of operations a civil airport has, it is not the best news for mexican civil aviation that ANY civil airport is "occupied" by the military.

On top of the above, I just learned that many Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), airport administrators have been fired and so far no new civil heads have been appointed. ASA as a goverment agency runs several mexican airports not under private concessions and virtually controls avation fuel distribution at all mexican airports. I would not rule out the possibility that among either on top of, or among those airports to be "occupied" by the military are some of those if not all included.

KrustyTheKlown wrote:

IceCream wrote:

Is there any reason at all? Or is this random?

It's all about consolidating power among those faithful to the President and hiding mistakes and corruption under the guise of national security.

Or, it is about taking away the power of the cartels, and their ability to move around and bring in weapons/drugs freely, and stopping local corruption.

He also wants the Navy to take control of the ports.

This sounds like a move against the cartels that have been growing in power and scope, who have begun trying to take control of other businesses, like mining, recently.

FlyingElvii wrote:

KrustyTheKlown wrote:

IceCream wrote:

Is there any reason at all? Or is this random?

It's all about consolidating power among those faithful to the President and hiding mistakes and corruption under the guise of national security.

Or, it is about taking away the power of the cartels, and their ability to move around and bring in weapons/drugs freely, and stopping local corruption.

He also wants the Navy to take control of the ports.

This sounds like a move against the cartels that have been growing in power and scope, who have begun trying to take control of other businesses, like mining, recently.

The military is a full blown cartel. Have you forgotten about Salvador Cienfuegos?, well here's a refresher: He's an ex-general who was arrested in LAX for drug trafficking and money laundering and who was freed after AMLO negotiated with Trump his release.

And speaking of drug-bosses, what about when the Chapo's son was arrested by chance and was immediately freed by presidential order?

If the military taking over airports and other critical infrastructure is going to achieve anything is to increase corruption.

More sad news for mexican civil aviation and airports:

https://www.tvazteca.com/aztecanoticias ... xicanos-mm

Link is spanish basically reads that the mexican Navy will take charge effective today of security management at 7 airports including none other than MEX and CUN, our most important ones.

CMA727 wrote:

More sad news for mexican civil aviation and airports:

https://www.tvazteca.com/aztecanoticias ... xicanos-mm

Link is spanish basically reads that the mexican Navy will take charge effective today of security management at 7 airports including none other than MEX and CUN, our most important ones.

Wasn't the National Guard already in charge of airport security? Would you rather have the Federal Police back in charge? The Marines are about as good a security force as exists in Mexico.

Due to earlier retirement ages and earlier age qualification for a military pension, it is quite common for former air force personnel to hold positions in CAA's all across.

jjbiv wrote:

CMA727 wrote:

More sad news for mexican civil aviation and airports:

https://www.tvazteca.com/aztecanoticias ... xicanos-mm

Link is spanish basically reads that the mexican Navy will take charge effective today of security management at 7 airports including none other than MEX and CUN, our most important ones.

Wasn't the National Guard already in charge of airport security? Would you rather have the Federal Police back in charge? The Marines are about as good a security force as exists in Mexico.

Getting rid of civil Federal Police and replacing it with military National Guard IMHO was just the beginning of a series of strategic mistakes by current goverment. Civil population security needs will always be better serviced by civil security agencies. There are sooooo many reasons why you don´t want military personel doing this job. Just to name some: Human rights abuses risks, increased controls and slower transit speeds at terminals, reduced use of common sense tool on problem solving, lack of transparency and bad image for destination requires such levels of security.