Overview
- Meditated by an order from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the U.S. DOT pulled approvals for 13 current or planned routes and suspended all combined passenger‑and‑cargo services from Mexico’s Felipe Ángeles Airport.
- Aeroméxico, Volaris and Viva Aerobus are directly affected, with cancellations hitting Aeroméxico’s AIFA–Houston and AIFA–McAllen, Volaris’ Mexico City–Newark and Ciudad Juárez–Newark, and nine Viva Aerobus proposals from AIFA to major U.S. cities.
- The department also proposed a prohibition on Mexican airlines carrying belly cargo between Mexico City’s AICM and the United States that could take effect in roughly three months if finalized.
- President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected the move as unilateral, requested urgent talks with U.S. officials and said she will meet Friday with the three airlines to coordinate a response.
- U.S. officials cite Mexico’s slot reductions at AICM and the 2023 shift of cargo operations to AIFA as anticompetitive; the action follows this year’s order to unwind the Delta–Aeroméxico joint venture and includes advice for passengers to contact airlines about itinerary changes.