This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has tentatively approved a joint venture between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico that could bring more traffic between Latin America and Salt Lake City International Airport.
The deal also proposes giving antitrust immunity to the airlines as they coordinate network planning, pricing, sales activities and frequent flyer programs.
The transportation department's action is a first step. It will take comments on the proposal, review them and then issue a final decision.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian told The Salt Lake Tribune in September that Delta hoped to close a deal by year's end to buy 49 percent of Aeromexico.
"We're going to create a joint venture, so I think you are going to see more traffic go through" Salt Lake City to Latin America, he said.
The transportation department said Friday that as a condition for approval of the deal, the airlines must divest some of their takeoff and landing slots at John F. Kennedy International in New York City and in Mexico City.
The department said that is "necessary to prevent harm to consumers resulting from the carriers' dominant positions at MEX [Mexico City] and JFK, and the inability of new entrant carriers to access slots at the airports."
It calls for the airlines to give up enough slots at Mexico City to support 24 transborder flights a day there, and enough at JFK to allow six transborder flights there.