U.S. Government Makes Major Move Against Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is one of the largest and most recognizable airlines in the United States, but the U.S. government is looking to fast-track the end of a key partnership Delta has enjoyed for years.

Delta has long benefited from a partnership with Grupo Aeromexico that has allowed both airlines to plan and price their flights jointly. However, the United States Department of Justice has put that partnership in jeopardy, deciding that the airlines should lose antitrust protection.

Now, as Delta and Grupo Aeromexico look to halt that order, the United States government is pushing back.

Delta Losing Antitrust Protection

In its filing back in August, the Justice Department claimed that practices by Mexico’s government “have limited entry and expansion by certain carriers” at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City, and “thereby undermined competitive conditions in Mexico, thwarting open market access on routes between Mexico and the United States.”

The U.S. Transportation Department claims that Mexico has been acting outside of a 2015 agreement since 2022 by taking slots away from U.S. airlines and carriers at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez airport.

As a result, the two airlines were ordered to unwind their venture by Jan. 1, 2026.

U.S. Government Makes Major Move

The airlines have pushed back against the order that forces them to end their partnership by 2026, seeking a delay of that deadline so that the court can have time to conduct a review and issue a full opinion. However, the United States is urging the court to reject that bid.

In a filing by the Departments of Transportation and Justice, the United States government urged the court to reject this bid by the airlines, calling out the partnership as "legalized collusion" that controls "almost 60% of operations at the fourth-largest international gateway to and from the United States," according to Reuters.

Airlines Push Back

At the time of the initial decision, the airlines pushed back against the end of their antitrust protection, arguing that the move "would punish a US company and US consumers" instead of the Government of Mexico.

“Other, superior measures are available to remedy the situation with the GOM without harming the US economy; the Department should pursue those alternatives instead,” the airlines said in the statement.

The airlines have also pushed back against the order to end the venture before an appeal, arguing that they would face substantial costs that they could not recover even if a court later upheld the arrangement.

The government, meanwhile, argues that the claims "of irreparable injury are overblown. And the public interest favors restoring full and fair competition between Delta and Aeromexico themselves and among them and their competitors."