Delta welcomes the overwhelming vote last night by the Mexican Senate to ratify a bilateral air agreement between Mexico and the United States.

“The 81 votes ratifying the Mexico-U.S. bilateral air agreement send a strong message about strengthening commercial aviation between the two countries,” said Ed Bastian, Delta’s incoming CEO.“It is great to be a part of a historic process that will allow us to create this critical trans-border aviation alliance between Mexico and the United States.”

On March 31, 2015, Delta and Aeroméxico filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking antitrust immunity for a new Joint Cooperation Agreement (JCA), which would combine their operations between the United States and Mexico into a single joint venture. This application is expected to be resolved later this year.

Implementation of the JCA is subject to approval by the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE, Spanish acronym).  Delta and Aeroméxico will continue to operate under their current codesharing and other alliance agreements until the JCA receives all required regulatory approvals.