In an inexplicable movement announced this Tuesday by the Federal Government, the architect Rogelio Jiménez Pons “got off” the Mayan Train and left the direction of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) to immediately occupy the position of Undersecretary of Transportation of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT).
The new head of the fund is Javier May Rodríguez, from Tabasco, who held the position of Secretary of Welfare and will now head the main railway infrastructure project in the country, with its 1,500 km of track, which should be finished by the end of next year. .
After the adjustment made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador since his confinement, Jiménez Pons has the objective of “modernizing and making the transport sector more efficient”, in the two directions that he has direct power: Federal Motor Transport and Protection and Preventive Medicine in Transport.
In addition, it will participate in the meetings related to the inauguration of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and in which it seeks to return the Mexican aeronautical authority to category 1, after the degradation made by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, for its acronym in English) from the United States last year, as his predecessor, Carlos Morán, who since yesterday is the new director of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), had been doing.
After the announcement, the dependency posted on its Twitter account: Secretary (Jorge) Arganis welcomed Arch. Rogelio Jiménez Pons, who with his arrival will contribute to the consolidation of the objectives of the present administration”. In another message, he recognized the work of Carlos Morán and “was pleased to continue counting on his valuable experience in the sector, now from the AICM.”
Fonatur-AICM: new leaders
Contrary to the deference of the SICT, until Tuesday night, the Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco, as head of the sector, did not make any comment on his social networks about the arrival of Javier May Rodríguez at the Fonatur, as he did his participation in the day’s activities (he even congratulated the new Secretary of Tourism of Quintana Roo, Bernardo Cueto).
Javier May Rodríguez is originally from Comalcalco, Tabasco. Previously, he was undersecretary of Planning, Evaluation and Regional Development in the same unit, where he was in charge of the Sembrando Vida program.
The director of Fonatur has also held different positions of popular election. In September 2018, in the LXIV Legislature, he was a Senator of the Republic for his home state.
For more than 30 years, Javier May Rodríguez has participated in the movement for the transformation of Mexico, it was specified, although there is no mention of experience in tourism or the railway sector.
Regarding Carlos Morán and his arrival at the AICM to replace Jesús Rosano, who had held that position since the end of 2019.
The adjustment occurs when the country’s main air terminal faces the complications caused by the cancellation of hundreds of Grupo Aeroméxico flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected its crew.
The new head of the AICM returned to public administration in the six-year term of the 4T at the hands of the former Secretary of Communications and Transportation, Javier Jiménez Espriú, with whom he was his closest collaborator.
In a talk with representatives of the airline industry, at the beginning of 2019, he even said that it was an honor to attend the Secretary’s calls “in the early hours of the morning” to appear at the National Palace to review together the issue of airport cancellation. from Texcoco or whoever was on duty.
His resume highlights having been head of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), now the Federal Civil Aviation Agency), for which he was a key player in the reconfiguration of airspace in the center of the country for the operation of the Airport. Felipe Angeles International (AIFA).
immediate tasks
• Rogelio Jiménez Pons, Undersecretary of Transportation
Collaborate in the return of the Mexican aeronautical authority to category 1, after the degradation made by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States, as did its predecessor, Carlos Morán.
Be present at meetings related to the upcoming inauguration of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), in close collaboration with the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), and in the operation of the new airport system.
• Javier May Rodríguez, director of Fonatur
Accelerate the construction of the 1,500 km of the Mayan Train and its development poles, since to date there is a progress of around 10% and it must be ready for its inauguration at the end of 2023, as requested by the President from Mexico.
Coordinate with private construction companies and the Ministry of National Defense (for the construction of sections 5 north, 6 and 7 of the train). In addition to defining the final strokes in the Cancun area and the Riviera Maya, where there are still changes.
• Carlos Morán, director of the AICM
Improve the infrastructure of the terminal to offer better travel experiences to passengers, which includes the expansion in a part of the last waiting rooms of Terminal 1, where the lack of space is evident.
Enforce the current saturation decree (in the optimal management of slots, takeoff and landing times), after the gradual recovery of the industry causes a return to that condition, which was interrupted by the health crisis.
alejandro.delarosa@eleconomista.mx
