Mexico fails to meet ICAO standards for effective aviation supervision - the US aviation authority FAA made this assessment, which is momentous for air traffic in North and Central America. The downgrade of Mexico to a “Category 2” rating has immediate consequences for Delta Air Lines as well.

"The Mexican government does not meet ICAO safety standards," said the FAA on Tuesday, the downgrade of Mexico from Category 1 to Category 2.

After the reclassification, Mexican airlines will be allowed to continue existing flights to the USA - but the FAA will not approve new routes and frequencies for the time being. In the recovery phase after the Corona crisis, this is a major blow for Mexican aviation.

Lack of specialist knowledge, scarce resources

The decision also has consequences for Delta. For the time being, Delta is not allowed to market or operate flights from its subsidiary Aeromexico under its own flight number.

Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico have been closely networked via codeshare flights between the USA and Mexico since 2017, and the airlines operate over 40 lines as a team. This month, Delta Air Lines expected around 3.800 flights with Aeromexiko - 86 percent of the joint pre-crisis traffic are loud Aero in the meantime restored.

The FAA audited the AFAC between October 2020 and February 2021 in an IASA (International Aviation Safety Assessment) process and found “lack of expertise” and “lack of resources” on the Mexican side. The FAA now wants to support the partner agency in solving these problems.