United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has informed the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that Mexican officials have told several US carriers that slots that had been cut at México City International will be returned to them.
While discussing the DOT’s tentative proposal to withdraw antitrust immunity for the Delta Air Lines and Aeroméxico joint venture, United said it would take no position on it, but “Mexican officials informed IATA, American Airlines, Delta, and United on an August 18, 2025, call that slots confiscated in the Winter 2022/2023 and Summer 2023 seasons will be reinstated.”
The carrier did not provide more details regarding the return of the slots, how many each airline will receive, or when they will be available.
The Mexican authorities cut hourly slots from 61 to 44 currently as a measure to address the levels of saturation at México City International Airport. In parallel, it forced all cargo carriers out of the airport and relocated them to the newer México City Felipe Angeles, which was built and inaugurated during the administration of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, over a cancelled new México City International Airport.
These measures have, for years, angered US authorities, who believe that Mexico has disregarded the 2015 US-Mexico Air Transport Agreement. In July, the DOT announced a series of measures to address these issues, including withdrawing Delta and Aeroméxico’s ATI and tightening its regulatory oversight of Mexican carriers’ activities in the US market.
ch-aviation has reached out to United Airlines, American, Delta, and the México City International Airport authorities for comment.
