Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico in a filing this week urged a federal appellate court to void a U.S. Department of Transportation order to dismantle their joint-venture agreement.
DOT in September ordered the termination of carriers' antitrust immunity, citing Mexico's noncompliance with the 2015 U.S.-Mexico Air Transport Agreement, and said the joint venture must wind down by Jan. 1, 2026.
Delta and Aeromexico in October filed a petition with the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the DOT order, and on Nov. 12, the court granted a stay pending the resolution of the judicial review—"the timing and outcome of which cannot be predicted at this time," according to a Delta Feb. 10 SEC filing. "In the meantime, we and Aeromexico continue to operate under the joint cooperation agreement."
In the most recent filing, the carriers assert that the DOT order is "arbitrary and capricious many times over." The filing states that DOT did not comprehensively analyze the venture's competitive effects at multiple levels, ignored the broader U.S.-Mexico market, that the agency's reliance on Mexico City-related city pairs "fails on its own terms," that there was contradictory analysis about the Mexico City airport's operations and the joint venture's growth, that DOT did not adequately justify its disparate treatment of the joint venture, and that DOT failed to consider and adequately address available alternatives.
DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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