The US Eleventh Circuit of Appeals has temporarily blocked the Donald Trump government’s decision to dissolve the Delta and Aeroméxico airline alliance. The decision, which can still be challenged by the Republican administration, puts an end to the commercial separation date, set for January 1, 2026. The companies went to court last September after the Trump administration’s Department of Transportation decreed a series of measures to encourage competition in the sector.
Washington’s decision, adopted in mid-September, had sparked concern in the Mexican sector, as it threatened to break up an alliance that had existed for nine years. The companies, which serve tens of thousands of passengers between Mexico and the United States, regretted the decision made by Trump, supposedly to end the anti-competitive effects of airlines in the two aforementioned countries.
On Monday last week, Trump’s Department of Transportation, led by Sean Duffy, laid out the reasons for the alliance’s dissolution. The Government assured, in a letter addressed to the Court, that the partnership between the airlines gives them excessive control over the routes connecting Mexico to the United States. For this reason the Administration “has decided to no longer authorize the legalized collusion” which controls 60% of operations in Mexico City, the fourth port with the highest number of routes to and from the United States.
Washington believes that the decision “serves the public good” of Americans, since the end of the alliance would prevent the companies from coordinating to set “prices, capacities and coordinate operations”. If it lost the trial, Delta would not be forced to sell the 20% of its shares in Aeroméxico, Mexico’s national airline.
The companies challenged Transportation’s decision a month ago in the Eleventh Circuit. “Aeroméxico and Delta are inextricably one company in the cross-border market operating for the benefit of consumers. Canceling the collaboration agreement by the DOT’s January 1 deadline would be complex, both operationally and commercially,” the airlines said in writing. Delta estimates that breaking up the alliance will result in the loss of more than 140,000 U.S. tourists and nearly 90,000 Mexican travelers.
