Aeromexico Pilots Could Strike Thursday After Rejecting a 3.2% Raise

Aeromexico’s pilots can go on strike from the first minute of Thursday, October 1, 2026, unless the airline and their union reach a deal or agree to extend talks before midnight in Mexico City. The union, ASPA, has rejected Aeromexico’s offer of a 3.2% pay raise.

In its most recent public comments, the union said the two sides remained far apart. At the time of writing, on the evening of Tuesday, September 29 in Mexico City, neither side had announced an agreement or an extension.

What the pilots want

ASPA, the Asociación Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores de México, represents 1,632 Aeromexico pilots, according to Expansión. On September 23, pilots protested outside the Torre Mapfre on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City to press their demands.

The union argues that its members have lost about 11% of their purchasing power since the pandemic. During that crisis the pilots accepted pay cuts and contract changes to help the airline through the worst stretch in its recent history.

Pay is not the only issue. El Financiero reported that the pilots also want better benefits, better rest conditions and a narrower pay gap between the two contract models that pilots currently work under.

Rest is a scheduling fight as much as a pay one. Regulators set the limits on daily flying, while a labor contract can add rest days on top of them.

ASPA secretary general Jesús Ortiz Álvarez has declined to name the raise the union is seeking. “We are still far from the objectives we are setting out,” he told reporters, adding that he was confident the company would understand and that negotiations were continuing.

Ortiz also pointed to the airline’s own numbers: “Being a public company, we know how it is performing.” Grupo Aeroméxico trades on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker AERO.

What Aeromexico says

Aeromexico said it presented its most recent proposal to the union on September 23. The airline called the offer a considerable and responsible effort, in line with recent contract reviews in Mexico, given the global economic conditions the airline industry faces.

“Aeromexico reiterates its willingness to dialogue and remains attentive to ASPA’s response,” the company said in a statement, adding that it was convinced both sides would reach an agreement.

According to Mediotiempo, Ortiz said the talks are taking place with support from Mexico’s Labor Ministry.

Three ways midnight can go

A Mexican strike notice sets a hard date, but it does not make a walkout automatic. By midnight the two sides can sign a deal, agree to extend the deadline and keep negotiating while flights operate, or let the strike begin.

If the strike begins, the union hangs strike flags at the company, which formally marks the start of the walkout. Operations would be disrupted from Mexico City’s Benito Juárez airport, the airline’s main hub, and at other airports across the country.

An extension is a real option. El Financiero reported that the pilots’ stance leans toward a solution, even if reaching it means extending the negotiations.

The same deadline in 2024

In 2024, ASPA’s strike notice also expired at the first minute of October 1, and in the early hours of that day the union pushed the deadline back to October 8, Expansión reported at the time. Aeromexico said its scheduled flights would run unchanged.

A strike then would have involved 1,491 pilots and about 500 daily domestic and international flights, according to the same report. On October 7, 2024, the two sides reached a preliminary deal with a 7.5% direct raise and improvements of more than 12.5% in other parts of the contract.

Aeromexico’s flight attendants also came close to striking this year. Their union, ASSA, approved a deal with a 4.16% raise on May 31, 2026, calling off a strike that would have idled more than 3,200 flight attendants, Infobae reported.

What it means for US travelers

Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines run a joint venture on routes between the United States and Mexico, so travelers holding Delta tickets on Aeromexico-operated flights could be caught up too. That partnership survived a legal challenge in August, when a federal appeals court restored the joint venture’s antitrust immunity.

Anyone flying Aeromexico on Thursday or later should check the flight status in the airline’s app before heading to the airport. North American airline strikes have come down to the wire before: this August, WestJet’s flight attendants walked out after last-minute talks collapsed.