Mexico’s busiest holiday and business corridors are facing a fresh wave of disruption as Aeromexico, WestJet, Volaris, VivaAerobus and JetBlue scrub more than 50 flights across the country, stranding passengers from Mexico City and Cancun to Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana and Los Cabos.

The latest cancellations, reported on January 19, 2026, are the most recent spike in a month of repeated operational turbulence that has tested airline reliability at the height of the winter travel season.

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New Wave of Cancellations Hits Key Mexican Hubs

According to newly compiled operational data, at least 53 flights were canceled across Mexico’s major airports over the past 24 hours, affecting both domestic and international routes. The disruptions span Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport, Cancun International, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana and Los Cabos, as well as regional gateways feeding popular beach and business destinations. The bulk of impacted flights involve Aeromexico, Volaris, VivaAerobus, WestJet and JetBlue, with some smaller carriers and U.S. low-cost airlines also trimming schedules.

Among the hardest-hit were connections to and from high-demand North American markets, including Houston, New York, Atlanta, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Sacramento, Fresno and Winnipeg, as well as Mexican cities such as Hermosillo, Mazatlán and Mérida. Canceled rotations in and out of these gateways have left travelers facing extended airport waits, missed cruise departures, disrupted resort stays and broken corporate itineraries at a time when hotel occupancy and fares are seasonally high.

The new round of cancellations follows a pattern of mounting disruption seen in recent weeks. In December, separate data sets documented as many as 35 cancellations and nearly 500 delays in a single day across Mexico’s six primary hubs, with Tijuana, Cancun and San José del Cabo among the worst affected. A separate December report tallied more than 180 cancellations in one week, underscoring the strain on carriers struggling to maintain reliable operations during peak demand.

Los Cabos, Cancun and Tijuana Stand Out as Trouble Spots

While cancellations have been reported nationwide, coastal leisure hubs are again emerging as flashpoints. Updated figures from Los Cabos International Airport show multiple weekend cancellations, including a WestJet departure to Vancouver and a Frontier Airlines flight to Atlanta. Though only a small part of the national total, these cuts have outsized impact given that many Los Cabos visitors rely on tight turnarounds between resort checkouts, airport transfers and returning work schedules.

Cancun, traditionally Mexico’s busiest international resort gateway, has also seen repeated operational stress this winter. Only days before the latest wave of cancellations, airport logs showed more than 70 delays and multiple cancellations in a single day, with WestJet, Air Canada, VivaAerobus and several U.S. carriers among those affected. In a separate incident earlier this month, more than 140 delays and a smaller number of cancellations were recorded on services touching Cancun and Mexico City, disrupting itineraries that stretched from Phoenix and Los Angeles to Toronto and Montreal.

Tijuana, a crucial transborder hub for travelers shuttling between Southern California and the Mexican interior, has experienced some of the most severe cancellation rates over the past month. Data published in late December highlighted more than 50 cancellations in Tijuana alone over a short window, including routes to Guadalajara, Queretaro, Toluca, Cancun, Mazatlán, Culiacán and Monterrey, alongside international services to Los Angeles. This earlier disruption foreshadowed the broader instability now visible across the network.

What Is Driving the Disruptions?

Airlines and aviation officials point to a combination of factors behind the cancellations now affecting Mexico’s principal carriers and their foreign partners. While detailed explanations for each canceled flight are not provided publicly in real time, carrier statements and recent regulatory announcements indicate that staffing constraints, network imbalances and ongoing fleet optimization efforts are playing a significant role. Several Mexican operators have been navigating pilot availability challenges and regulatory changes, particularly around the use of foreign-licensed flight crews.

In late 2025, for example, Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency temporarily authorized Volaris to fly a group of aircraft with foreign pilots, a move that drew objections from domestic pilot unions and signaled the depth of the staffing pressures facing some low-cost carriers. At the same time, international networks remain in flux for North American airlines, with Canadian and U.S. operators regularly fine-tuning transborder and leisure schedules in response to shifting demand, cost pressures and earlier strategic cuts.

Weather has also been a complicating backdrop. Canadian carriers including WestJet have been managing winter storm systems across key domestic hubs in recent days, issuing advisories for southern Ontario and other regions. Though individual snow or wind events often occur far from Mexico’s beaches, they can ripple through aircraft and crew rotations, causing knock-on delays and cancellations on routes into Cancun, Los Cabos and other sun destinations.

Aeromexico, Volaris, VivaAerobus, WestJet and JetBlue Under Scrutiny

The latest cancellations spotlight a broad mix of full-service and low-cost players, each with distinct network strategies but converging operational challenges. Aeromexico, the country’s flagship, remains the primary connector between Mexico City and many U.S. and Latin American markets, meaning any wave of cuts quickly reverberates through business itineraries. While not always the numerically largest source of cancellations, its role at the capital’s main hub makes every disruption consequential for connecting passengers.

Volaris and VivaAerobus, dominant in Mexico’s budget and regional segment, have repeatedly featured in recent disruption tallies. Their dense point-to-point networks feeding Tijuana, Monterrey, Guadalajara and secondary cities like Mérida and Hermosillo allow them to capture cost-sensitive travelers, but also expose them to cascading schedule issues when aircraft or crews fall out of position. Recent data shows both airlines responsible for a significant share of cancellations and delays at Tijuana, Mexico City and Cancun during December’s peak traffic days.

WestJet and JetBlue, although foreign carriers, play a high-profile role in connecting Canadian and U.S. travelers to Mexican resorts. WestJet in particular has invested heavily in Mexico routes, recently promoting itself as a leading Canadian operator to the country and adding new links such as Calgary to Mexico City. Any interruption to its operations in Los Cabos, Cancun or other Mexican airports not only affects point-to-point leisure passengers but also undermines confidence among tour operators and package providers that rely on tight charter-style schedules.

Stranded Passengers Face Long Lines, Limited Options

For travelers on the ground, the statistical picture translates into long lines at check-in counters, crowded customer service desks and a rush for scarce alternate seats. In affected airports this week, passengers report waiting hours for rebooking and often being offered routings that add overnight connections or multiple stops to what was originally a single direct flight. Families on fixed vacation dates and business travelers on tight meeting schedules are among those hardest hit.

When mass cancellations hit a limited set of carriers simultaneously, options narrow quickly. Seats on unaffected airlines can sell out within minutes of a cancellation announcement, especially on popular corridors such as Mexico City to Tijuana, Cancun to major U.S. hubs, or Los Cabos to western Canada. Travelers without flexible dates or those using basic economy fares may find that their only viable choices are departures several days later, forcing them to extend hotel stays at their own cost or cut trips short.

Social media and online forums have been filled in recent months with accounts from passengers who say they were left uncertain about compensation, hotel coverage and meal vouchers when flights were abruptly scrubbed or oversold. While such anecdotal accounts are not unique to Mexico or to the current disruption, they underscore the frustration many travelers feel when customer service is overwhelmed by a sudden spike in irregular operations.

How Airlines Are Responding

Major carriers operating into and within Mexico have been pointing travelers to their disruption and advisory pages, where policies on rebooking, refunds and travel credits are outlined. WestJet, for instance, maintains a service plan developed to comply with U.S. Department of Transportation rules and Canadian passenger protection laws, promising reimbursement consideration for out-of-pocket expenses when delays or cancellations fall within the airline’s control. The carrier has also activated weather-related fee waivers at various points this winter for affected regions in Canada, creating some additional flexibility for guests needing to shift travel dates.

Mexican low-cost carriers typically offer a mix of free rebooking on the next available flight and travel credits when disruptions occur within their responsibility, though the exact scope of assistance can depend on fare type and the reason for cancellation. Aeromexico, as a network carrier with a frequent flyer base and alliance partners, tends to provide more traditional irregular-operation handling, including re-accommodation on partner airlines when capacity allows. However, when disruption volumes are as high as those recorded in late December and again this week, even legacy carriers can run out of viable alternatives.

Some airports and tourism boards have stepped up communication efforts, using local media to urge travelers to check flight status frequently and arrive early, particularly in Cancun, Tijuana and Mexico City. Yet with disruptions often driven by events far from the departure city, such as crew duty-time limits or inbound aircraft issues, many passengers learn of cancellations only hours before scheduled departure, limiting the value of early check-in.

What Travelers Should Do If Their Flight Is Affected

For visitors currently in Mexico or heading there in the coming days, close monitoring of flight status is critical. Airlines typically update their digital channels in near real time, and many automatically enroll customers in email or SMS disruption alerts upon check-in. Experts recommend checking the airline’s app or website regularly from 24 hours before departure, especially if traveling through known hot spots such as Cancun, Los Cabos, Tijuana, Mexico City, Guadalajara or Monterrey.

Travelers who see major storm systems or operational advisories affecting their airline’s home base may want to proactively explore earlier or later departures, where fee waivers are offered. Those booked through tour operators or online agencies should contact those intermediaries first, as they often control ticket changes and refund processing. Keeping receipts for hotels, meals and ground transport is essential in case an airline later invites reimbursement claims for expenses linked to disruptions within its control.

Travel insurance, including policies bundled with some credit cards, can help offset costs when cancellations or long delays fall outside carrier responsibility, such as weather or air traffic control restrictions. However, coverage conditions vary widely, making it important for travelers to verify terms well before departure. In the current environment, where Mexico has seen repeated spikes of cancellations and delays over the past month, policies that cover missed connections and extended stays can provide an added layer of security.

Uncertain Outlook for the Remainder of the Season

With winter peak travel still under way and February school breaks approaching in Canada, the pressure on Mexico-bound routes is unlikely to ease immediately. Airlines have been attempting to stabilize schedules by trimming underperforming services and consolidating frequencies, a strategy meant to improve reliability on remaining flights. Yet as the events of January 19 demonstrate, even streamlined timetables remain vulnerable to weather, staffing and regulatory headwinds that can develop with little warning.

Industry analysts note that Mexico’s air travel market has rebounded sharply from pandemic-era lows, particularly in leisure-focused corridors. That rapid growth, fueled by low-cost carriers and aggressive international expansion, has at times run ahead of investments in crews, maintenance and air traffic infrastructure. Until those underlying constraints are fully addressed, periodic flare-ups of disruption like those now isolating passengers across Mexico City, Cancun, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana and Los Cabos are likely to remain an unwelcome feature of the country’s aviation landscape.

For now, travelers eyeing Mexico’s beaches and cities are being advised to build extra flexibility into their plans, budget for potential schedule changes and stay informed on evolving airline operations. As the latest wave of cancellations shows, even experienced carriers such as Aeromexico, WestJet, Volaris, VivaAerobus and JetBlue are not immune from the operational turbulence currently buffeting one of the world’s most popular sun-and-sand destinations.