Work is progressing to recover Category 1 in aviation safety

The Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT)

This is an automated translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

• Head of the SICT, Jorge Nuño Lara, led the culmination of meetings held this week to review progress with experts from the US FAA
• A videoconference was proposed to be held between January 6 and 9, 2023, before the meeting with the interim administrator of the FAA, Billy Nolen.
• They endorsed the commitment to maintain communication between both parties to record progress

The Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), Jorge Nuño Lara, led the culmination of meetings with experts from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that were held this week to review progress for the recovery of Category 1 in aviation safety.

The work was carried out with the advice of North American specialists in aviation safety, Jeffrey Richardson, Julio Arizmendi and Randall Wrigt, who since last Monday were in person at the offices of the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), as well as Lou Álvarez and Jacqueline Serrao, remotely from the FAA headquarters in Washington DC.

Accompanied by the Undersecretary of Transportation, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, and the General Director of the AFAC, Miguel Enrique Vallín Osuna, the head of the SICT, together with the American experts, evaluated the actions undertaken by Mexico prior to the recategorization, as well as the proposal for a videoconference to be held between January 6 and 9, 2023, prior to the meeting with Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen.

The coordinator of the group, Jeffrey Richardson, thanked the AFAC work team for the delivery of all the progress documentation, and pointed out that they will continue working in a coordinated manner to address the pending issues.

The Undersecretary of Transportation, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, and the General Director of AFAC, Miguel Enrique Vallín Osuna, thanked the Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation, Jorge Nuño Lara, for the willingness with which they worked jointly with the FAA during the last five days, feedback that served to present the progress, for which they endorsed the commitment to maintain this communication.

The FAA team commented that the relationship with the AFAC will continue permanently remotely and with personnel from both parties to support the audits in the coming months and that Mexico can recover Category 1 as soon as possible, as is the objective of the holder of the SICT.

After the meeting, the signing of the progress of the work was signed by the Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, Jorge Nuño Lara; the Undersecretary of Transportation, Rogelio Jiménez Pons; the general director of the AFAC, Miguel Enrique Vallín Osuna; and FAA experts Jeffrey Richardson and Julio Arizmendi.

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