Cartel violence has erupted around Mexico, leading to flight disruptions.
HOUSTON — Air travel in and out of regions in Mexico affected by cartel unrest was impacted Sunday. That included flights operated by two airlines that have hubs in Houston. Both United and Southwest canceled their flights to Puerto Vallarta Sunday, however on Monday, United resumed flights to Puerto Vallarta and to Guadalajara.
What are the airlines doing?
KHOU 11 checked with Southwest Airlines for flights out of Hobby Airport and United for flights out of Bush to see the status. While both airlines canceled all flights affected Mexico destinations Sunday, United start flying to them on Monday.
In a statement to KHOU 11, United wrote, “United Airlines flight operations to PVR (Puerto Vallarta) and GDL (Guadalajara) have resumed. We still have a waiver in place to support customers with options and encourage travelers flying United to visit united.com to check their flight status and view the latest information.”
So what are their plans going forward? Both airlines — and several more — posted information for travelers at the links below.
What is the cartel unrest about?
The cancellations come after the U.S. State Department’s warned U.S. citizens in certain parts of Mexico to shelter in place because of security operations and criminal activity. The warning was put in place because of retaliatory violence by cartels after the Mexican Army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho.”
Late Sunday night, the State Department updated its list of impacted areas to the following:
Locations: Widespread, including Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Baja California State (including Tijuana, Tecate, and Ensenada), Quintana Roo State (including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum), Nayarit State (including the Nuevo Nayarit/Nuevo Vallarta area near Puerta Vallarta), Sinaloa (including Mazatlan) and areas of Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Estado de Mexico, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Zacatecas States
If you have plans to travel to the region, you should check with your airline to make sure it’s not been delayed or canceled.
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