Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein says the Mexican market represents “a great source of strength” for the SkyTeam carrier, which is eyeing expansion of its antitrust immunized transborder joint venture (JV) with Aeromexico.

The U.S. FAA’s September decision to lift Mexico’s safety rating back to Category 1 status means the transborder JV can begin growing again. Aeromexico has already announced it will add 17 transborder routes (a mix of new routes and restarts) to the U.S. from seven Mexican airports in 2024.

On Delta’s third-quarter earnings call, Hauenstein said Mexico is more than a leisure market and has high business-demand upside. “You see all the onshoring and moving factories from Asia down into Mexico,” he explained. “We've seen really an incredible strength in demand from the business sector in Mexico, and that's looking really robust into 2024 … We've been working very closely with [Aeromexico to determine] where we see strength, including the auto sector in Detroit and including Atlanta as a primary gateway to Mexico’s primary and secondary airports.”

Four first-quarter 2024 Aeromexico route additions will go to Delta’s home hub at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, with flights from Guadalajara, Merida, Monterey and Leon kicking off.

The FAA’s decision to restore Mexico to the agency’s highest safety rating ended a period stretching more than two years in which Mexican airlines could not add new routes, increase frequencies or even upgauge aircraft on existing routes to the U.S.

According to Delta, Aeromexico plans to operate nearly 60 daily departures to the U.S. from Mexico in July 2024, which would be up 35% over July 2023. Delta plans to operate 34 daily frequencies to seven Mexican destinations in July 2024.