JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) has indicated that it is ready and willing to transfer one of its soon to be unused México City International slot pairs to its competitor United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare), according to a submission the carrier made to the US Department for Transportation (DOT). The New York JFK-based airline will discontinue its flights to the Mexican capital city in January - it currently flies from Boston (6x weekly), Fort Lauderdale International, JFK, and Orlando International (all operated daily), according to the ch-aviation schedules module.

The carrier was originally awarded three Mexico City slot pairs in 2017 after the DOT forced Delta Air Lines and Aeroméxico to divest 24 slots in order to gain approval for its joint venture. The DOT's aim was to introduce more low-cost carriers (LCC) and new entrants into the market and thereby increase competition.

However, its experiment has broadly failed, with not just jetBlue leaving the Mexico City market, but also Alaska Airlines (in September 2018) and Southwest Airlines (in March 2019) which have already withdrawn their respective routes after they were awarded slot pairs in the same process.

United lodged a request with the DOT on November 22 urging the department to award it one of jetBlue's Mexico City slot pairs in order for it to increase its existing San Francisco service to up to three times daily. Its filing suggested that the carrier "sees no successful path forward in obtaining such a slot other than from the available pool of divested slot pairs,” as the Mexican authorities have continually denied its attempts to gain further capacity.

Just five days later, the New York-based LCC stated in a letter to the DOT that while it still agrees with the department's original intention to broaden the types of carriers competing in the Mexico City market that a "flexible approach ... to accommodate United's modest request" was now needed.

“United’s request follows jetBlue and other US low-cost and new entrant carriers being afforded an opportunity to compete at Mexico City. Competitive conditions at a slot-controlled airport may change over time,” jetBlue said in a letter to the DOT’s Office of Aviation Analysis. It also added that it would “promptly transfer a remedy Mexico City slot pair to United should the department approve the transfer.”