Routing through Mexican airspace a problem?

[AgMedallion]

I picked the Continental forum because this "quirk" is even more noticeable with CO flights to/from Houston. The quirk being that I've noticed on flights to/from Hawaii from Texas, the flight paths (available through flightaware.com for one) seem to avoid flying through Mexican airspace, often hugging the border around El Paso or Southern California, where it seems flying over Mexico would be more direct (even more so for IAH flights compared to the more northern DFW). Many TATL flights and transcons routinely fly through Canada. Is there some legal problem with the Mexican airspace? Or do Mexican authorities charge airlines for ATC services? Obviously fights between U.S. and Mexico have to utilize Mexican ATC, but it seems these others could benefit, so there must be some reason they don't. I'm sure Continental pilots on these routes know exactly why.

 

[Ralph]

Not directly related to CO. Moving to Alphabet Soup as this is probably a governmental issue.