Donald Trump’s administration said Saturday that he is taking a series of measures against Mexico for the decision of the Mexican government in 2023 to rescind some flight time strips for the United States airlines and forced US cargo airlines to relocate their operations in Mexico City.
The Secretary of Transportation of the United States, Sean Duffy, said in a statement that the department could reject the requests of flights from Mexico if the government does not address the concerns of the United States.
The department also proposes to withdraw the antitrust immunity to the joint company of Delta Air Lines with Aeromexico to address competition problems in the market.
Mexico is the most popular international destination among American airline travelers.
Delta was not immediately available to comment.
The Transportation Department said that Mexico has not fulfilled a bilateral air agreement since 2022, when it abruptly rescinds the time slots and forced US cargo airlines to relocate their operations in 2023.
Reuters has requested comments from the Ministry of Transportation of Mexico on these orders.
The US Secretary of Transportation, Sean P. Duffy, announced a series of actions, accusing that Mexico “abruptly rescinded” in 2022 some flight times for the US airlines, and that “forced US cargo carriers to relocate their operations”, under the argument that sought to allow construction to relieve congestion at the Benito Juárez International Airport (Mex). Three years later, he complained, that remodeling “has not materialized.”
“When restricting the time slots and forcing all load operations to move outside of Mexico,” he said, this country “has breached its promise, has disturbed the market and has left US companies in the one is in the one is in the one is staked by the millionaire increase in costs.”
In the statement, Duffy announces three actions to combat what he denounces as “abuse” by Mexico:
- Demand Mexican airlines to present to the Department of Transportation of the United States the schedules of all its operations in the United States.
- Demand the prior approval, by the US Transportation Department, before operating any charter flight of large passenger or cargo aircraft with origin or destination in the United States.
- Propose the withdrawal of antitrust immunity (ATI) to the joint company Delta/Aeromexico, thus taking corrective measures to address competition problems in the market.
“Since 2022, Mexico has significantly altered the field for the airlines, so that it reduces competition and allows predominant competitors to obtain an unfair advantage in the United Mexico-United States Market,” he said in the statement.
“The United States and Mexico have an Air Services Agreement … that compromises both parties to a liberalized operational environment for all airlines … Mexico has moved away from their commitments …” he added.
With Reuters information.
