The permission granted to Volaris to operate domestic routes with foreign pilots has provoked a clash in the union. The Mexican Association of Pilots Aviators (ASPA) and the College of Pilot Aviators of Mexico accused this Monday the Ministry of Communications of having granted the Mexican airline this authorization which “openly violates” the aeronautical legislation which establishes that planes must be flown exclusively by Mexican pilots. Industry sources assure EL PAÍS that the Federal Agency for Civil Aviation (AFAC) has authorized Volaris to enroll foreign pilots, from Malta and Lithuania, to operate 12 flights based in Mexico City and Guadalajara. The airline requested this leasing permit, valid from December 2025 to January 12, 2026, to avoid the effects of the overhaul of the engines of some of its aircraft.
The endorsement granted to Volaris on the eve of the Christmas holidays has alarmed Mexican pilots. The pilots’ union ASPA warns that the resolution represents a serious failure on the part of the authorities, undermines the working rights of Mexican pilots and compromises the country’s air sovereignty. Captain José Suárez, press secretary of the trade union organization, says that the Mexican airline does not need to use foreign staff from Avion Express, from Malta, and Heston Airlines, from Lithuania, because it has a sufficiently large workforce to fill these positions.
Suárez stressed that due to a technical problem, namely an engine failure, the Mexican low-cost airline cannot circumvent national legislation. “It allows jobs reserved only for Mexicans to be given to foreigners and we, from a union point of view, are worried because it creates a bad precedent for the future,” he says. According to Aspa’s calculations, this permit will concern between 100 and 120 Mexican pilots. This union has approximately 5,700 affiliated pilots and more than 2,900 active pilots with collective agreements with the companies Aeroméxico, Connect and MAS de Carga, among others.
It is not the first time that the union has raised its voice about this type of furlough. In 2023, AFAC authorized a project similar to Viva Aerobús and at the time the authorities indicated that it was a “unique” and “exceptional” case. However, they are now experiencing a similar situation with Volaris. The College of Pilot Aviators of Mexico supported ASPA’s concerns and warned that air connectivity is important, but should not be guaranteed in violation of the country’s Constitution and therefore urges the government to revoke this permit.
The organization adds that the temporary support for Volaris contradicts the national policy of defending sovereignty and is opposed to the presidential commitment to create 100,000 jobs per year, an objective envisaged in the Mexico Plan. “When the law is ignored once, it sends the wrong message: that Mexico can stretch as it wants. Mexico has pilots, Mexican professionals, certified and ready to fly. There is no technical or legal justification to replace them with foreign crews,” he says.
Current legislation prohibits airlines from other countries from offering their services for domestic flights, a practice known as cabotage. However, the laws provide the model of wet location or wet leasing – the rental of aircraft with crew – in emergency cases. The Civil Aviation Law establishes that, in exceptional cases, foreign-registered aircraft leased from concessionaires, transferees or permit holders may be used temporarily. In these exceptions, the airline must have prior authorization from AFAC. However, UNAM’s aviation law specialist, Rogelio Rodríguez, explains that the authority issued this approval incorrectly. “Him wet location (wet lease) is an emerging figure, but in this case the situation does not emerge because it was just a lack of planning on the part of Volaris and it is cheaper for them,” he comments.
Rodríguez adds that the approval of this type of permit compromises the growth of the national aeronautics. “It is becoming a custom and a bad practice because it involves breaking the law, exercising cabotage and shifting national sovereignty, because foreigners come to operate our routes,” he says. The expert adds that other airlines may try to fight in court to cancel this permit.
In the third quarter of the year Volaris transported 7.9 million passengers, an increase of 3.2% compared to the same period last year. The low-cost airline also reported a fleet of 152 units, a growth of 15% compared to 2024. The airline has a load factor of its aircraft of 84%. Although both the company and the Ministry of Transport were asked for an opinion on these allegations, no response had been obtained at the close of this edition.
