The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has blocked 13 existing and planned routes for Aeroméxico, Volaris, and VivaAerobus, from Mexico into the U.S. Air Insight Group says the move effectively slams the door on the carriers’ expansion plans from the Valley of Mexico. The DOT also unveiled a proposal to ban Mexican carriers from flying cargo in their passenger jets from Mexico’s main airport.
“Mexico has illegally cancelled and frozen U.S. carrier flights for three years without consequences,” the DOT said in a statement October 28. “All the while, Mexican carriers have been adding new routes and services between MEX and the United States.”
The DOT says the flights “flagrant violations” of the U.S.-Mexico Air Transport Agreement, alleging that the Government of Mexico has unfairly harmed U.S. carriers through two actions: a 2023 ban on dedicated cargo flights at Benito Juárez International Airport, based near Mexico City, and “arbitrary” reductions of flight slots at the airport.
The DOT’s final order (2025-10-13) says that, effective immediately, 11 new proposed services are disapproved. These include a planned Volaris route from Benito Juárez International Airport to Newark, a planned Aeroméxico route from AICM to San Juan, and a nine-route expansion of services by Viva Aerobus from Felipe Ángeles International to Austin, New York (JFK), Chicago (ORD), Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Orlando.
Furthermore, the order demands Aeroméxico cease two existing routes from Felipe Ángeles International Airport (to Houston-IAH and McAllen-MFE) by November 7, 2025.
The DOT also enacted a blanket ban on any future frequency increases or new routes from either Benito Juárez International Airport or Felipe Ángeles International Airport by these airlines, indefinitely freezing their U.S. operations from the capital.
Air Insight Group reported October 28 that, in a separate but related proposal (Order 2025-10-14), the DOT outlined a plan to prohibit Mexican carriers from transporting “belly cargo” (freight in the holds of passenger flights) between AICM and the United States.
In February 2023, the Government of Mexico evicted all-cargo operators from Benito Juárez International Airport, forcing U.S. freighters to relocate to the more distant Felipe Ángeles International Airport. However, the decree explicitly exempted belly cargo on passenger flights, which the DOT argues created an anti-competitive “carve-out” for Mexican carriers, violating the U.S. right to a “fair and equal opportunity to compete.”
The DOT earlier issued a final order on September 15 to dismantle a Delta-Aeromexico joint cooperation agreement effective Jan. 1, 2026.
In the latest spat, the DOT cites the “arbitrary” confiscation of historic slots for U.S. carriers at Benito Juárez International Airport, reducing them to 43 per hour. The DOT order claims it never received a clear technical justification for this and alleges it was a “State-directed market intervention” designed to artificially bolster the “struggling” Felipe Ángeles International Airport by forcing traffic its way.
The DOT stated that while U.S. carrier operations were “frozen” by these cuts, “certain Mexican air carriers… have been able to add a significant number of new U.S. services… by repurposing slots.”
After dismissing recent diplomatic engagements as insufficient, the DOT has made it clear that the freeze on Mexican carrier growth will remain in place until the Government of Mexico “return[s] to full compliance” with the agreement.
