WASHINGTON – Mexico's aviation safety rating was downgraded Friday due to concerns about the country's safety oversight, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The action won't stop flights between the two countries, but it will prevent Mexican airlines like AeroMexico from expanding service to the United States, FAA said..
Mexican airlines also will not be able to carry passengers to or from the United States in so-called code-sharing agreements with U.S. airlines. Code-sharing means one airline puts its code or symbol on another carrier's flight and sells the seats as if the plane were one of its own.
Delta Air Lines, the world's largest airline, said in a statement Friday that it will remove its code from AeroMexico flights.
"Our customers are still permitted to travel on AeroMexico, but must be rebooked with an AeroMexico flight number to do so," Delta spokesman Kent Landers said in a statement. The airline said it will work with the affected AeroMexico codeshare passengers so there is "minimal impact to their travel plans."
Mexico's Communications and Transport Department said in a statement the demotion was due "exclusively to administrative and organizational matters" — a shortage of flight inspectors — and not to a lapse in flight safety itself.
"The FAA measure does not imply any decline in the safety of civil aviation in Mexico," the department said. "Mexico's airlines are safe and will continue to offer high quality service, comparable to the highest international standards."
"While Mexico has been responsive to the FAA's findings and has made significant improvements in recent months, it was unable to fully comply with all of the international safety standards," the U.S. agency said in a statement.
The ratings are based international aviation safety standards, not U.S. regulations. ___
AP Airlines Writer David Koenig in Dallas and Associated Press Writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.
