Aeroméxico hires pilot fired for filming incident between two Volaris aircraft

Aeroméxico has hired pilot Libertad Salomón, who was fired from Volaris after filming an incident involving two Volaris aircraft at Mexico City International Airport on May 7th. She is currently undergoing training to become a Boeing 737 first officer.

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The video went viral just days after IFALPA, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, issued a safety bulletin warning of an increase in the number of incidents over Mexico City’s airspace as a result of the 2021 redesign of the Santa Lucía Air Base as a commercial airport.

Salomón recorded the moment from the cockpit of a Volaris aircraft that was on standby and about to take off for Los Angeles, United States.

Through a video released by the Mexican Airline Pilots Union Association (Asociación Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores de México – ASPA), which groups Aeroméxico and Aeromar pilots, she explained that she noticed that an Airbus A320neo of the same airline was authorised to land on runway 05L while an Airbus A320, also from Volaris, was awaiting clearance for take off at the head of the same runway.

The aircraft in the air, with registration XA-VRV, was coming from Mazatlán and was operating flight Y4 799. The aircraft had to perform a go-around and begin a new approach to the airport. It landed without further developments minutes later.

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«I decided to film with the captain’s permission because it was unbelievable to me to see a plane going into the air», said the pilot. «Clearly, I knew it wasn’t going to land, since the other aircraft was on the runway, and I wanted to have a picture of the plane going into the air in front of us», she added.

Following the release of the video, Salomón received an initial two-week suspension. Later, however, the company terminated his employment contract after conducting an investigation and concluding that the sterile flight deck rule was not respected. The action of taking the video, they said, had meant «not performing only the duties» of that phase of the operation.

According to the union, Aeroméxico’s hiring is important as «all Mexican pilots need support» and she was at risk of losing her flying licence.

See also: Delays at Mexico City Airport: Profeco targets Aeromexico and the airline fires back