Delta rallies stakeholders to defend threatened Aeromexico joint venture

Delta has assembled a wide coalition of businesses, trade groups, lawmakers and governors in opposition to a US government decision that stands to force Delta and Aeromexico to end their joint business. In recent days, the airlines submitted some 60 letters, from various supporters, to the US Department of Transportation. The letters urge the agency to reconsider a tentative January decision not to renew an antitrust exemption permitting the Delta-Aeromexico joint business. Delta and its supporters say the decision will force the airlines to eliminate US-Mexico flights at the expense of jobs and economic activity. The coalition of supporters includes heavy hitters, among them Airbus and automakers Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis – which say they depend on US-Mexico flights. The DOT rejected the antitrust renewal request on grounds that Mexico has repeatedly violated the US-Mexico air transport agreement by reducing capacity at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International airport. Mexico has been forcing airlines to relocate to the new Felipe Angeles International airport, which is farther from Mexico City. Other US airlines have praised the DOT’s proposed decision, but Delta and Aeromexico want the agency to reconsider. Warning of flight cuts, they say the US government should not punish airlines, communities and consumers, but should rather take complaints directly to Mexico’s government, through arbitration if needed. ”I respectfully ask that you reconsider this proposal,” Airbus Americas CE Jeffrey Knittel says in a February letter to the DOT. Delta submitted the letter and dozens more to the agency in recent days.<br/>