Mexico's Not-So-Friendly Skies

A near-collision of two jets in Mexico City was captured on video May 7, stunning the nation. One plane was about to land, the other cleared for takeoff on the same runway at Benito Jurez International Airport; both flights were operated by the discount airline Volaris. Within two days, Vctor Manuel Hernndez Sandoval, director of navigation services for Mexican Air Spacethe countrys air-traffic control authorityhad resigned.

Confidence in Mexican air safety remains shaken, because the circumstances that led to the close call run deeper than the competency of one man. The near-disaster has reignited a public debate about whether changes to the funding and infrastructure of Mexicos air-transportation network, executed under President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, have made Mexicos airspace dangerous.