Trump administration imposes limits on Mexican flights and threatens Delta alliance in trade dispute

By Josh Funk Associated Press The Trump administration imposed new restrictions Saturday on flights from Mexico and threatened to end a longstanding partnership between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico in response to limits the Mexican administration placed on visitor and cargo flights into Mexico City several years ago Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared Mexico s actions to force airlines to move out of the main Benito Juarez International Airport to the newer Felipe Angeles International Airport more than miles away violated a arrangement agreement between the two countries and gave domestic airlines an unfair advantage Mexico is the top foreign destination for Americans with more than million passengers flying there last year Related Articles The best solo vacations from Italy s Dolomites to St Lucia s spas SFO publicly objects to newly adopted name for Oakland airport KLM forced me to pay because I was a no show But I wasn t TSA set to let travelers keep shoes on through airport measure Bay Area Fourth of July expedition traditions continue Packed traffic long airport lines Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg deliberately allowed Mexico to break our bilateral aviation agreement Duffy commented of the previous administration That ends this day Let these actions serve as a warning to any country who thinks it can take advantage of the U S our carriers and our sphere America First means fighting for the fundamental principle of fairness All Mexican rider cargo and charter airlines will now be required to submit their schedules to the Transportation Department and seek cabinet approval of their flights until Duffy is satisfied with the way Mexico is treating U S airlines It s not straightaway clear how Duffy s actions might affect the broader arrangement war with Mexico and negotiations over tariffs A spokesperson for Mexico s President Claudia Sheinbaum didn t reply at once to a request for a comment and she didn t mention the restrictions at an event Saturday Delta and Aeromexico have been fighting the Transportation Department s efforts to end their partnership that began in since early last year The airlines have argued that it s not fair to punish them for the Mexican executive s actions and they noted ending their agreement would jeopardize nearly two dozen routes and million in benefits to both countries economies that come from tourism spending and jobs The U S Department of Transportation s tentative proposal to terminate its approval of the strategic and pro-competitive partnership between Delta and Aeromexico would cause crucial harm to consumers traveling between the U S and Mexico as well as U S jobs communities and transborder competition Delta mentioned in a announcement Aeromexico s press office mentioned it was reviewing the order and intended to present a joint response with Delta in the coming days But the order terminating approval of the agreement between the airlines wouldn t take effect until October and the airlines are likely to continue fighting that decision The airlines revealed in a previous filing fighting the order that it believes the loss of direct flights would prompt over American tourists and nearly Mexican tourists not to visit the other country and hurt the economies of both countries with the loss of their spending Associated Press writer Amaranta Marentes in Mexico City contributed to this summary