Sheinbaum: "due to other interests" the Aeroméxico-Delta merger was revoked

Néstor Jiménez and Alonso Urrutia

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, September 23, 2025, p. 23

In the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) decision to revoke the antitrust immunity that made the alliance between Aeroméxico and Delta Air Lines possible, "we believe other interests are behind it," President Claudia Sheinbaum said yesterday.

During her morning press conference, the president emphasized that the Mexican government responded promptly to the four points with which the United States placed the airline alliance under review, arguing, among other things, that it violated the Air Transport Agreement between the two countries.

He assured that there are no complaints from airlines regarding the transfer of cargo operations from Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to Felipe Ángeles Airport; on the contrary, they are "happy" with the move.

He explained that the DOT made four observations, specifically to the AICM, which were responded to, so "we don't understand that position. Rather, we believe there are other interests behind this resolution related to Delta and Aeroméxico, which, in any case, we are reviewing."

When asked about the background, he added: "That's what we're looking at, to see if there's any benefit to any airline or any other issue, because we don't understand why, having answered all four points clearly, they're making this decision anyway."

Among the topics she was asked about, she also said that a team from the United States Department of Agriculture spent several weeks in Mexico to review the actions taken to address the screwworm cases.

Stating that the Mexican government is doing everything possible to prevent its spread, he indicated that the U.S. agency is about to issue its ruling on the matter, and emphasized that there is an agreement that the decision to open or close the border to livestock trade will not be discretionary, but rather based on technical indicators.

He announced that he is about to send to the Senate his proposals for the establishment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the National Antitrust Commission, which, following the recent reform, replace the Federal Telecommunications Institute and the Federal Economic Competition Commission.