Delta, Aeromexico win court battle to keep joint venture

• A U.S. appeals court has overturned a Trump administration order that aimed to dismantle the joint venture between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico.
• The ruling preserves the 10-year-old alliance, which allows the carriers to coordinate scheduling, pricing, and capacity for U.S.-Mexico flights.
• The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Transportation Department did not adequately explain its decision to conduct a narrower market analysis than usual.
• The airlines had sued to block the September 2025 order, and a court had previously put the order on hold pending the legal challenge.

A U.S. appeals court has overturned a Trump administration order that sought to force Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico to dissolve their joint venture. The ruling, issued by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, preserves the decade-old alliance that enables the carriers to coordinate flight schedules, pricing, and capacity between the United States and Mexico.

The airlines had challenged the U.S. Transportation Department's September 2025 order, which aimed to revoke antitrust immunity for their partnership. A court had previously placed the order on hold while the legal challenge proceeded.

The appeals court criticized the Transportation Department for its market analysis, stating that the department "did not reasonably explain why it conducted a far more limited market analysis in this case than it has always done in the past."