Speech Announcing the Founding of FEMPPA on Aviation Day (1998)

On Thursday, February 26, 1998, for the first time in the history of Aviation Day celebrations, a representative of private aviation addressed the national aviation community. His remarks were attentively heard by the Secretary of Communications and Transportation, generated notable interest among the journalists covering the event, and prompted numerous congratulations from the commercial pilots in attendance.

Speech Delivered on Behalf of Private Aviation by David G. Zambrano Villarreal During the Official Aviation Day Celebration Held on February 26, 1998, in the Alcázar of Chapultepec Castle

Mr. Secretary, members of the presidium, distinguished guests:

Throughout its history, our country has known how to capitalize on technological advances. It has had governments and leaders with vision who understood the benefits of new technologies and promoted their application as drivers of economic growth, not only in the area directly involved, but also through a multiplying effect that accelerated many other activities interconnected in ways more complex than we imagine.

In transportation, our predecessors were pioneers in the construction of railroads. In doing so, they not only benefited the railroad industry, but also activated an economic engine that has benefited all Mexicans since the last century.

Time and again, the Ministry of Communications and Transportation has correctly identified technological advances within its sphere of responsibility and has promoted their use and development by establishing the appropriate regulatory framework. Thanks to this, today we have an impressive terrestrial microwave network, two geostationary communications satellites, cellular telephone service that covers virtually the entire national territory, and thousands of Internet access points.

Be proud, Mr. Secretary, to lead an institution that has served as a banner of our technological progress toward the third millennium, where the only limits will be our imagination and our determination.

In transportation, aviation has been the greatest technological development of our century. In only fifty years, humanity progressed from timidly taking flight to breaking the sound barrier, and from aircraft that could barely support the weight of a single occupant to others capable of transporting hundreds of passengers.

Civil aviation today is composed of two major and complementary segments: public transportation and private transportation. The needs served by one cannot be satisfied by the other.

Today, the level of development of a country can be measured by the size of its private aviation sector. The greatest growth in this sector has occurred in the most developed countries.

In Mexico, private aviation has made it possible for many small communities isolated by the geography and size of our country to become integrated into the productive economy, facilitating the use of our vast agricultural, forestry, and livestock resources.

In some states, such as those comprising the Baja California Peninsula, private aviation has been the key that has attracted an important and profitable foreign tourism sector interested in experiencing and enjoying our natural beauty.

Indeed, to illustrate the importance of private aviation in Mexico, it is enough to say that there are ten private aircraft for every public transportation aircraft.

It saddens me to say, Mr. Secretary, that Mexican private aviation is being seriously threatened by the efforts undertaken by different areas of the federal government to combat drug trafficking.

We understand the magnitude of the threat that drug trafficking poses to health and public safety, but we believe—and wish to express to you—that many of the measures that have been adopted have significantly discouraged the growth of private aviation.

Like every Mexican who is proud of his country, we oppose crime, but we cannot justify causing serious harm to the segment of aviation to which we belong under the argument of fighting it.

Faced with a situation that falls within your area of responsibility, I invite you, Mr. Secretary, to respond in the constructive manner that is characteristic of you. I invite the Ministry under your distinguished leadership, through the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics, to champion our cause and defend this important sector represented by private aviation.

To support you in that effort and leadership, representatives of the principal associations of pilots and aircraft owners throughout the Mexican Republic have gathered on this date to form a federation that will serve as the voice of private aviation and act as a link, an interlocutor, and a source of support for the aeronautical authorities.

It gives me great pleasure to invite you, Mr. Secretary, as well as the Undersecretary and the Director General of Civil Aeronautics, to serve as honorary witnesses to the establishment of the Federación Mexicana de Pilotos y Propietarios de Aeronaves, Asociación Civil, affiliated with the international organization IAOPA.

It is our desire and our purpose that the skies of Mexico become friendlier and safer for both nationals and foreigners; that every town and every city have at least one landing strip; that our aeronautical regulations become a model of fairness; and that private aviation once again become a driver of progress.

I invite all of you to spread your wings.

Long live private aviation.

Long live Mexico.

(Translated by ChatGPT in 2026)