Mike Baker

In a series of notices to airmen, which, for those of you unfamiliar, is the formal safety alert that pilots and airlines are required to review before flying, the agency flagged potential risks for flying over Mexico, much of Central America, parts of South America, as well as portions of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Now, this doesn't appear to be a short-term alert.

The advisory is set to remain in place for 60 days and applies specifically to American operators.

The FAA reportedly sees a sustained risk rather than a one-off concern.

The timing lines up with the sharp escalation in regional tensions following the Trump administration's large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean and the ouster of Venezuela's Maduro.

As we've discussed here on the PDB, the operation didn't just upend Venezuela's regime, it reshaped the security picture across the region.

And since then, President Trump has made clear that further military action remains on the table, including the possibility of operations on Colombia's narco network.

We've been tracking how Trump has been blunt about his view on the threat environment closer to home.

He's accused drug cartels of running Mexico and suggests that the U.S.

could strike land-based narco-terror targets to dismantle them.

Since Trump returned to the White House, transnational criminal groups are being treated as a national security problem, and that decision is what brings U.S.

military assets to play.

Not surprisingly, Mexican officials moved to insert Mexico City into this situation.

They stress that the FAA advisory is purely precautionary and applies only to U.S.

airlines.

Mexico's transportation ministry said the notice does not restrict Mexican airspace or disrupt airline operations, even as Washington's posture in the region hardens.

Now, it's not the first time that the FAA has had to respond to U.S.

military activity in the Western Hemisphere.

After Operation Absolute Resolve that ousted Maduro and maritime strikes against narco-traffickers, the agency restricted flights across parts of the Caribbean, triggering the cancellation of hundreds of flights by major airlines.

FAA Administrator Brian Bedford later said the agency coordinated closely with the U.S.