Delta calls DOT’s anticipated termination of JCA ""ineffectual""

Delta Air Lines has spoken out against the US Government’s Department of Transport (DOT) in a filing on February 9 with the government branch. It follows the DOT’s proposal to not renew the pending Delta and Aeromexico’s antitrust immunity application on January 26, and effectively terminating the joint cooperation agreement (JCA). “The Department’s tentative decision to terminate the approval currently underpinning the JCA is premature, punitive, misdirected, and ineffectual as a matter of aviation policy,” said Delta’s filing. It said that the DOT decision was “in retaliation” to the large changes made by the Government of Mexico (GOM) to Mexico City Benito Juarez International Airport, moving cargo flights to a newer airport and cutting slot availability. The JCA was granted under several conditions including slot divestitures. In its January 26 order, DOT instructed Delta to show cause that it had “substantial concerns about the non-transparent slot allocation regime further exacerbated by infrastructure constraints at MEX, as well as uncertainty of how the market would transform under the new regime.” The JCA had said it would offer 30% more seats in 2024 year-over-year. Delta argued in its filing that both Delta and Aeromexico had no responsibility nor control over the actions of the GOM. It added that the DOT’s show cause order would “not produce the desired effect of persuading the GOM to reconsider its actions.” Delta said: “The JCA generates hundreds of millions of dollars each year in benefits for travellers in the US-Mexico market and stimulates an estimated one million incremental trips through new and expanded service, more convenient flight options between the two countries, and enhanced competition with other U.S. and Mexican air carriers.” It added: “If Delta and Aeromexico were to unwind their procompetitive JCA, routes between the United States and Mexico would be cut and reduced. Ties between communities would be severed. Consumers would be deprived of the more convenient flying options they deserve and to which they are accustomed. Jobs would be lost.” If the DOT issues the final order for termination of the JCA, it will be terminated at “the end of the IATA traffic season”, which is approximately October 26, 2024. The DOT said this timeframe “should provide sufficient time” for both companies to “unwind” the JCA. Delta said: “Simply put, the Department’s tentative proposal is bad industrial policy, bad for the US economy, bad for local communities, bad for transborder competition, and bad for US aviation interests.”