Mexico Concedes Airport Slots to US for Travel, Freight
US Cargo Airlines Had Been Reassigned to New but More Remote Airport
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Mexican authorities backed down from a spat with President Donald Trump’s administration over airline slots at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport, the latest twist in a feud over transborder travel and freight competition.
The development touches on Mexico’s push to move more operations to the new Felipe Angeles capital airport that has been a government priority.
Sheinbaum said it is important for the U.S. to understand that her government seeks to promote both the older, more centrally located Benito Juarez hub, as well as the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, farther north of the capital. That’s where U.S. cargo airlines were reassigned as part of the Mexican government’s transportation strategy.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her daily press conference that her government, U.S. carriers and authorities agreed to a new distribution in previous weeks without giving out details on the new slot scheme.
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The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. 3 current or planned routesby Mexican carriers into the U.S. — a response to the country’s alleged noncompliance with a 2015 air transport agreement.
“There have been meetings with the U.S. Transportation Department”, Sheinbaum said Nov. 17. “Before that meeting, a new distribution was made in which Mexican airlines cede their slots to U.S. airlines under a principle of competitiveness.”
She added that talks with U.S. carriers will go on but the feeling is that cargo airlines are satisfied with the agreement.
“I met with them to understand what they need,” Sheinbaum said. “There is a good atmosphere, so to speak, and talks will continue for several weeks with the understanding that we can reach an agreement.”
A spokesperson from Mexico’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Communications, in charge of slot assignments, said they didn’t immediately have any information to share on the issue. Another spokesperson from Benito Juarez International Airport declined to comment.
The U.S. Transportation Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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The Transportation Department’s decision to cut 13 routes into the U.S. marked an escalation following other U.S. actions in July, such as requiring Mexican airlines to file schedules with American authorities and seek approval for large charter flights.
The Trump administration also revoked antitrust immunity for an agreement between Delta Air Lines Inc. and Grupo Aeromexico, though a U.S. appeals courthalted the orderlast week.
The Transportation Department alleges that Mexico has been violating a 2015 bilateral agreement with the U.S. since 2022. According to the department, the country has been illegally canceling or freezing U.S. carrier flights for three years.
