Dear Colleagues,
IFALPA has been informed by ASPA de Mexico that the Mexican Civil Aviation Authority (AFAC) has authorized operations of foreign crews on Mexican domestic Volaris Airlines routes. ASPA de Mexico believes this decision violates Mexican constitutional and aviation regulations that specifically require Mexican-born pilots to operate aircraft on such routes. ASPA de Mexico is deeply concerned that this decision undermines Mexican constitutional labor rights, including equal pay, dignified conditions, and professional access, and that the practice contravenes Civil Aviation Law provisions mandating Mexican-born pilots to operate on public air services.
ASPA believes the Mexican government’s legal position in this case is unjustified because the latest Mexican labor reforms forbid outsourcing core business activities, making the use of foreign subcontracted crews incompatible with national labor protections. By considering flight operations as a specialized service, ASPA de Mexico believes that airlines will be able to evade fiscal obligations such as tax withholding and social security contributions under the decision. The expectation of ASPA de Mexico is that foreign pilots will operate under non-Mexican FTDT standards and outside Mexican oversight for training standards, weakening safety and regulatory accountability.
ASPA de Mexico is further concerned this government decision will have significant social repercussion by displacing qualified Mexican pilots, lowering salaries, and weakening collective bargaining structures and that this type of outsourcing will fragment union representation and undermine long-term labor stability. ASPA de Mexico also believes that these actions contradict Mexico’s commitments to the UN SDGs, particularly SDG 8 on decent work and SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, by creating inequitable labor conditions and limiting fair economic opportunities for domestic aviation professionals.
These outsourcing arrangements that involve Mexican AOC holders like Volaris contracting EU-based operators such as Avion Express to fly domestic routes, raise concerns about regulatory circumvention and threats to regional market stability. ASPA de Mexico warns that these types of decisions could set an undesired precedent.
On behalf of Volaris pilots, ASPA de Mexico requests the Mutual Assistance outlined below, as per the IFALPA Industrial Manual, starting on 1 December 2025 at 0001 LT and until 12 January 2026 at 23:59 LT.
•Ban on Wet leasing (Para. 2.5.1)
•Recruitment Ban (2.5.3)
•Denial of Training Facilities (2.5.4)
•Prohibition of Pilot Contracting (2.5.6)
•Assistance to Pilots Stranded Away from their Home Base (Para. 2.5.7)
ASPA requests that the Letters of support for the Volaris pilots be sent to the attention of Captain Jesus Ortiz-Alvarez, Secretary General, [email protected] and cc [email protected]
ASPA de Mexico will keep IFALPA and its Member Associations informed of any further developments.