What does the FAA's Mexico Pacific advisory mean for a private flight to Cabo?

The FAA has told US operators to take care over Mexico’s Pacific waters until March 13, 2027. It has not told them to stay away. The notice, KICZ advisory NOTAM A0053/26, covers the overwater areas above the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California in Mexico’s flight information region, at every altitude, because of military activities and interference with satellite navigation.

For a charter to Los Cabos or Puerto Vallarta, that makes the notice a question for the operator’s crew and its route planning. It is not a reason the flight cannot go. This page quotes the notice, says who it covers and what it does not change, and lists what to ask before you book.

The short version

• It is an advisory. The notice says US operators “are advised to exercise caution”. It closes no airport and prohibits no flight.
• It covers almost every US flight. That means US air carriers and commercial operators, FAA-certificated pilots and every US-registered civil aircraft, with narrow exceptions for foreign air carriers.
• The area is water, not airports. It is the overwater airspace above the Pacific and the Gulf of California in the Mexico FIR, “at all altitudes”, including arrivals and departures.
• Two stated reasons: “military activities and GNSS interference”. The notice gives no further detail.
• It runs from September 10, 2026 to March 13, 2027, unless the FAA cancels, replaces or extends it first.

What does the FAA’s Mexico Pacific NOTAM say?

It says US operators should be careful in the overwater airspace off Mexico’s Pacific coast and over the Gulf of California. The operative sentences are short:

U.S. operators are advised to exercise caution when operating in the overwater areas above the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California in the Mexico Flight Information Region (MMFR) due to military activities and GNSS interference. Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight.

Two things about that wording are worth stopping on. “Advised to exercise caution” is the language of an advisory: it tells crews to take care and plan for the risk, and it sets no limit on where they may fly. And “arrival and departure phases” means the notice is not only about aircraft passing high overhead on the way somewhere else. It reaches flights landing at and leaving the coast. The FAA uses the same wording for Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah FIR; see can you fly private to Dubai?

The notice is valid from the surface to unlimited altitude (“SFC-UNL”) from 14:54 UTC on September 10, 2026 until 05:00 UTC on March 13, 2027. It was created on September 10, 2026, two minutes after it took effect.

Does the advisory apply to a private charter?

Yes. The notice names three groups, and a US charter flight falls into at least two of them:

This NOTAM applies to all U.S. air carriers and commercial operators; all persons exercising the privileges of an airman certificate issued by the FAA, except such persons operating U.S.-registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and all operators of civil aircraft registered in the United States, except when the operator of such aircraft is a foreign air carrier.

A US charter operator holds an FAA certificate as an air carrier or commercial operator under 14 CFR part 119, and its pilots hold FAA airman certificates. A private owner flying their own US-registered jet is covered by the third group. The table below sets out who is and is not inside the notice.

The exceptions are narrow and turn on the words “foreign air carrier”. A foreign air carrier operating a US-registered aircraft is outside the notice, and so are FAA-certificated pilots flying that aircraft for it.

Where does the advisory apply, and does it include Cabo or Puerto Vallarta?

It applies to airspace over water, and it names no airport. The area is “the overwater areas above the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California in the Mexico Flight Information Region”.

Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) sits at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, and Puerto Vallarta is on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Because the notice expressly includes “the arrival and departure phases of flight”, any part of an arrival or departure over that water is inside it. How much of a given flight that is depends on the route and the procedure the crew flies, which is something to ask the operator rather than read off a map.

What does the advisory not change?

It does not close airports, restrict flights or change any entry rule. Specifically:

• Mexican entry and permits are unchanged. A US charter operator still needs its Mexican permit, and you still clear Mexican immigration and customs on arrival. See flying private to Mexico or Canada for the permit and the US rule on where an aircraft returning from Mexico must first land.
• It is not a travel advisory. The State Department’s Mexico advisory is a separate document about conditions on the ground; the Van Nuys to Cabo and Dallas to Cabo route guides give its level for Baja California Sur as of May 2026.
• It gives no reason beyond its two words. The notice says “military activities and GNSS interference” and refers operators to a background information notice on the FAA’s Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices page. Any account of who is doing what, and where, is not in the NOTAM.

What should you ask before booking a Mexican Pacific charter?

Three questions settle what the notice means for your trip.

1. Has the operator reviewed NOTAM A0053/26 and the FAA’s background notice for this trip? The notice is addressed to the operator and its crew. They should know it and be able to say so.
2. What route will the aircraft fly, and how much of it is over the water the notice covers? The arrival and departure count.
3. What does the crew do if satellite navigation is unreliable on the day? The notice names GNSS interference as a reason for caution. The operator’s answer is its own procedures; ask for it in plain terms.

The notice also asks crews to report “any safety/security incidents observed/experienced” in the area to the FAA’s Washington Operations Center at +1 (202) 267-3333. That is an instruction to operators, not a passenger hotline.

How Jake works

Jake names the operator and the aircraft in every quote, deals with the certificate holder directly, and checks the operator’s record and the aircraft. On a trip to Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta or elsewhere on Mexico’s Pacific coast, ask him to put the three questions above to the operator before you confirm.