US government lowers Mexico's aviation safety rating

The U.S. government on Tuesday decreased Mexico's aviation safety rating, an action that barred Mexican airline barriers from adding new U.S. flights and limited the ability of airlines to execute marketing agreements, a U.S. government official said. The Reuters news agency first reported plans to downgrade the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday.

The FAA has had long conversations with Mexican aviation regulators about its concerns. An official U.S. announcement is expected later Tuesday.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that U.S. authorities should not downgrade Mexico's air safety designation, arguing that his country meets all relevant standards. "We meet all the needs and requirements. We feel that this arrangement should not be taken, 'Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference when asked about the possibility of a U.S. downgrade of the safety rating. The downgrading of Mexico from "category one" to "category two" means that the current U.S. service will not be affected by Mexican airline organizations, but they could not launch new flights and marketing practices from airline to airline such as making seats on each other's to sell flights in code part arrangements would be limited.

Delta Air Lines said on Tuesday that an FAA downgrade is not about partner Aeromexico and that it will have little impact on customers.

"It's not about Aeromexico. "It's about the Mexican version of the FAA not being available from the right protocols," Delta President Glen Hauenstein told a conference of Wolfe Research.

Delta has a code-sharing arrangement with Aeromexico that enables the two airlines to sell seats on each other's flights.

Delta will be required to remove its codes on Aeromexico flights after the downgrade, although Aeromexico may continue to code on Delta flights, and members of Delta's loyalty program may still receive SkyMiles on Aeromexico flights that would normally carry the code, added Hauenstein.

This would not be the first time the FAA has lowered Mexico's air safety rating. In 2010, the agency decreased Mexico due to alleged shortcomings within its civil aviation authority and then recovered its highest point about four months later.