The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded AeroMexico's two-year old air safety ratings to Category II which led to the airlines bearing a loss of over a billion dollar, revealed Diana Olivares, head of Mexico's air transportation chamber and country manager, LATAM Airlines, while speaking to Reuters. “It was a huge loss,” she added.
FAA downgraded Mexico’s safety ratings in May 2021 citing lack of compliance with international standards. Due to this, AeroMexico could not add new flights.
“Due to lack of certification AeroMexico could not fly the newly delivered planes to US while foreign airlines were given a free pass to boost flights and expand their market share at the expense of Mexico’s domestic airlines,” Olivares added.
FAA recently conducted the last leg of AeroMexico’s safety audit after a series of earlier reviews and the decision on Mexico’s air rating recovery is still pending. The results are likely to be announced by the end of July.