Summary
- Aeromexico is adding 101 weekly flights on seven routes to the United States in December after Mexico regained its Category 1 status from the FAA.
- This comes after a challenging period for Mexican carriers due to their Category 2 status, which prevented them from opening new routes or adding flights to the US.
- Aeromexico will increase capacity on routes from Mexico City to Miami, Orlando, Houston, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Las Vegas, while reducing flights on routes to San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles from Guadalajara.
It was only a matter of time before Mexican airlines began scheduling new commercial services to the United States after the country regained its Category 1 status from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Aeromexico, the full-service company, has updated its schedules in routes to the United States for December, adding 101 weekly flights on seven routes.
Adding new flights
The last two years have been tortuous for Mexican carriers and their connectivity to the United States. Due to the country’s degradation to Category 2 status (which lasted between May 2021 and September 2023), Mexican airlines were unable to open new routes, add new flights, and employ new planes to and from the United States, losing market share against US-based companies.
Photo: TamasV/Shutterstock.
But now, following the recovery of the Category 1 status, Aeromexico is ready to add extra capacity to the United States. Using data from Cirium, the airline is looking to add 101 extra flights in December versus the previous year.
Aeromexico will increase its capacity in routes from Mexico City International Airport (MEX) to Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO), Houston (IAH), New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), Denver (DEN), and Las Vegas (LAS).
- Mexico City-Miami – going from 21 weekly flights to 35
- Mexico City-Orlando – going from 23 to 32 weekly flights
- Mexico City-Houston – going from 17 to 25
- Mexico City-New York – going from 21 to 28
- Mexico City-Los Angeles – going from 29 to 35
- Mexico City-Denver – going from 17 to 22
- Mexico City-Las Vegas – going from 12 to 15.
Reducing some flights
On the other hand, Aeromexico also expects to reduce its weekly capacity on three routes to the United States in December. In all of these three routes, Aeromexico will scrap three weekly flights.
Photo: Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock.
The service between Mexico City and San Francisco (SFO) will go from 24 to 21 weekly; Aeromexico’s route from Guadalajara to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) will go from 14 to 11, and the flight from Guadalajara to Los Angeles will be reduced from 14 to 11 as well.
Recovering Category 1 status
On September 14, the FAA returned Mexico’s aviation safety to Category 1 “following more than two years of close work between the civil aviation authorities in both countries.”
With the Category 1 status return, Mexican airlines are now allowed to add new services and routes to the United States, and US airlines can resume marketing and selling tickets with their names and designator codes on Mexican-operated flights. This is excellent news for Aeromexico and Delta’s joint venture and Volaris and Frontier’s codeshare agreement. Viva Aerobus and Allegiant are also looking for a Joint Venture but have not been approved yet by the US Department of Transportation.
The FAA first downgraded Mexico’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating to Category 2 in May 2021 after finding the country did not meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards.
Under the IASA program, the FAA assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with carriers that fly to the United States or participate in codesharing. The countries currently in Category 2 status are Bangladesh, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, and St. Kitts and Nevis), Russia, Thailand, and Venezuela.
What do you think about Aeromexico scheduling changes in routes to the United States? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Cirium.