Trump administration imposes limits on Mexican flights and threatens the Delta Alliance in Trade Conflicts

Washington – The Trump government imposed new restrictions on Saturday to flights from Mexico and threatened to end a long-term partnership between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico in response to limits that the Mexican government placed a few years ago on passenger and cargo flights to Mexico City.

Transport secretary Sean Duffy said that Mexico’s actions to force airports to move Benito Juarez to the newer International Airport Felipe Angeles, more than 30 miles away, a trade agreement between the two countries violated and domestic airlines gave an unfair benefit. Mexico is the best foreign destination for Americans with more than 40 million passengers flying there last year.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg have deliberately allowed Mexico to break our bilateral aviation agreement,” said Duffy, referring to the previous president and his transport secretary. “That ends today. Let these actions serve as a warning for every country that thinks it can take advantage of the US, our carriers and our market. America first means fighting for the fundamental principle of fairness.”

All Mexican passenger, freight and charter airlines will now be obliged to submit their schemes to the transport department and the approval of the government of their flights until Duffy is satisfied with the way in which Mexico treats American airlines.

It is not immediately clear how Duffy’s actions can influence the wider trade war with Mexico and negotiations on rates. A spokesperson for Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum did not immediately answer a request for comments. Sheinbaum did not mention the new restrictions during none of her two speaking events on Saturday.

Delta and Aeromexico fight the efforts of the transport department to end their partnership that started since the beginning of last year in 2016. The airlines have argued that it is not fair to punish them for the actions of the Mexican government, and they said that the termination of their agreement would endanger almost two dozen routes and $ 800 million in benefits for the economies of both countries from the editions and jobs of tourism.

“The provisional proposal from the US Department of Transport to terminate its approval of the strategic and pro-competitive partnership between Delta and Aeromexico would cause significant damage to consumers traveling between the US and Mexico, as well as US jobs, communities and transborder competition,” Delta said in a statement.

The Aeromexico press office said it was revised the order and was planning to present a joint response with Delta in the coming days.

But the termination of the approval of the agreement between the airlines would only come into force in October, and the airlines will probably continue to combat that decision.

The airlines said in an earlier application that fights the order that the loss of direct flights would ask more than 140,000 American tourists and nearly 90,000 Mexican tourists not to visit the other country and to harm the economies of both countries with the loss of their spending.

Associated Press writer Amaranta Marentes in Mexico City contributed to this report.