Imagine that an emergency occurs in flight. It can be operational, safety, related to passengers on board or to technical issues, and the pilot in command and his crew – foreigners – do not know the current legislation or the national territory well and their English is technical but limited and with an accent unfamiliar to Mexicans.
If things can get complicated under normal circumstances, it would be much more difficult if there is no ability to communicate properly or the rules are unknown. Especially for a commander to whom the laws grant authority in flight.
That is why the approval of the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) for the airline Volaris to wet lease (that is, aircraft with crew included) of 10 aircraft from Malta and Lithuania to cover the high season from December 1 to January 12, has caused such a stir.
The AFAC alleges that this is “legal” because, although all national regulations, from the Constitution to mandatory circulars, prohibit foreign crew members from commanding aircraft of Mexican companies, there is a paragraph in the Civil Aviation Law that speaks of this possibility “in emergency situations and on a temporary basis.”
Here the question is what is an emergency? And the other: how temporary is the temporary? Because the company Viva Aerobús did the same for 2 years, also in open defiance of the legislation, but with permission from the AFAC. Both airlines share the same problem: their aircraft, Airbus 320, have a type of P&W engine that required an early review due to design problems. However, this circumstance has existed for almost 3 years and therefore cannot be called an emergency.
Because the previous director of AFAC had already granted the permit to Viva, we assume that the new director, General Avendaño, who has been in the position for barely two months, was forced to approve this new permit. However, in both cases there is a violation of Mexican laws.
But we go in parts. It’s not just about being a “crosser” of the laws for the sake of it. These regulations have a reason for being: the flight commander has very clear attributions of safety and authority in flight, to comply and enforce order and ensure safety and the regulations that exist for this purpose in Mexican legislation. That is, it has authority functions and there is even a “legal statute of the commander” in the Federal Labor Law.
This is the reason why an aircraft crew member on Mexican airlines should not be a foreigner, even if they knew some regulations, which is not the case. On the other hand, on the flights that Viva contracted, several crew members were known to not speak Spanish well, which, in the case of flight attendants, would be fatal if there was an accident or serious incident, since complete command of Spanish is required to give instructions to passengers, especially under high stress.
In many areas, legal certainty is requested and this is no less important. In addition, there are reasons for the regulations to be complied with without affecting passengers.
