A US appeals court has vacated a Transportation Department order that would have ended Delta Air Lines and Grupo Aeroméxico’s transborder joint venture, allowing the carriers to keep coordinating services on Mexico-United States routes. The ruling leaves their antitrust immunity in place and preserves a partnership that covers scheduling, pricing, capacity, marketing and frequent-flyer cooperation.
The Eleventh Circuit found the department had not adequately justified its move to unwind the alliance and acted arbitrarily and capriciously. The decision follows a dispute over whether the regulator had applied an unusually narrow market analysis when seeking to withdraw approval for the nearly 10-year-old arrangement.
Aeroméxico is reviewing the opinion and possible next steps with Delta and legal advisers. The Transportation Department will consider its legal options. The outcome protects one of the most significant cross-border airline partnerships in North America, which remains central to network planning and sales across the US-Mexico market.