Following working meetings and an exchange of written communications, the government of Claudia Sheinbaum committed to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to return the slots—landing and takeoff times—confiscated from U.S. airlines due to the presidential decree that reduced the limit to 44 operations per hour at Mexico City International Airport (AICM).
“In this regard, several written communications have been exchanged between the Department and the SICT (Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation), in addition to a face-to-face meeting between the parties. (…) These efforts have resulted in some progress, such as the commitment to return the slots confiscated from U.S. airlines in the short term,” the Department of Transportation stated in the document published on October 28.
Although the U.S. government has received these promises, they have not materialized, and therefore the DOT revoked, on Tuesday night, a series of flights by Mexican airlines from AICM and AIFA to the United States.
“The Department notes that the affected U.S. airlines have been effectively denied the ability to exercise any traffic rights associated with these slots for three years, and that, at best, they could benefit from the resumption of service with those slots for the 2026 summer season.
However, the Department acknowledges and welcomes the recent indication from SICT that the slots seized from the U.S. airlines have been returned,” the U.S. authority stated in a document dated October 28.
Source: elfinanciero
