Travelers heading to Mexico’s resort hotspots and major cities are facing a new wave of uncertainty as fresh disruptions ripple across key routes. A combination of airline schedule cuts, regulatory pressures and day to day operational snags has led Viva Aerobus and WestJet to pull back capacity and cancel select flights, affecting itineraries touching Cancun, Mexico City, Toronto and other hubs. For vacationers and business travelers alike, the latest changes underscore how fragile cross border connectivity between Mexico and North America remains in early 2026, even as demand for leisure travel stays strong.
What Is Happening With Viva Aerobus and WestJet Right Now
In recent weeks both Viva Aerobus and WestJet have quietly reshaped parts of their networks, with knock on effects for passengers traveling between Mexico and Canada and onward to U.S. and European destinations. While neither carrier has framed these moves as a broad retreat from Mexico, the net result is fewer nonstop options and a higher risk of missed connections for travelers using Cancun, Mexico City and other gateways as regional hubs.
WestJet’s changes are centered on a widespread cut to its Canada United States schedule for the Northern Hemisphere summer 2026 season, which in turn affects how seamlessly Canadians can connect onward to Mexico. Updated schedules filed in late January and early February show WestJet trimming roughly a quarter to one third of its U.S. capacity for spring and summer, with 15 transborder routes removed from the upcoming timetable. Many of these routes feed into Canadian hubs such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, which serve as primary launch pads for sun bound flights to Cancun and other Mexican resorts.
Viva Aerobus, Mexico’s leading ultra low cost carrier, is contending with a different kind of turbulence. The airline continues to expand inside Mexico, adding new frequencies to Mexico City and other domestic markets, but it is navigating fallout from U.S. regulatory decisions that have forced the cancellation of several planned or existing cross border services. At the same time, day to day disruptions at major Mexican airports are creating additional pain points for travelers on Viva Aerobus and its competitors, as operational delays and scattered cancellations build into longer queues and missed trips.
Four Key Flights at the Heart of the Latest Disruptions
For travelers, the headline story is not abstract percentages but specific flights that suddenly disappear or grow unreliable. Based on current schedule filings and disruption reports, four key services stand out as especially impactful in this latest round of changes affecting Mexico related travel.
First are WestJet’s Canada U.S. links that act as vital connectors into and out of Mexico. Routes such as Las Vegas to Toronto, Los Angeles to Toronto, Orlando to Vancouver and Nashville to Vancouver are all being removed from the airline’s summer 2026 schedule. With those flights gone, Canadians who might previously have flown home from Las Vegas or Orlando on WestJet and then connected the same carrier up to Cancun or Puerto Vallarta now face more complex itineraries and increased reliance on other airlines. Even though these four routes are not Mexico flights themselves, they are critical building blocks in many Mexico focused journeys.
Second are WestJet’s nonstop leisure flights between Canada and Mexican beach destinations, which remain in operation but are increasingly exposed to indirect disruption. Services such as Montreal to Cancun and Toronto to the new Tulum airport are currently scheduled to continue, yet they draw passengers from a transborder network that has just lost a significant chunk of capacity. When a traveler from Boston or Chicago can no longer reach Toronto or Vancouver on WestJet, that can effectively cancel their planned single airline itinerary to Cancun or Tulum even if the Mexico leg still operates.
On the Mexican side of the border, Viva Aerobus has been particularly affected on routes touching Mexico City and Cancun when wider airport disruptions arise. Recent daily reports from travel industry trackers show Viva Aerobus among the hardest hit by cancellations and delays at Mexico City’s main Benito Juarez airport, Cancun International and Guadalajara. In one 24 hour period, Viva Aerobus alone accounted for multiple cancellations and a cluster of delays out of a total of under a dozen canceled flights nationwide, a striking share for a single carrier. When those cancellations affect flights linking regional Mexican cities to Cancun or Mexico City, they sever onward connections to international services, including those to Toronto and other Canadian points.
Ripple Effects in Cancun, Mexico City and Other Mexican Hubs
The immediate pain of a canceled or severely delayed flight is most visible in crowded departure halls and long lines at airline counters. Over the past week, those scenes have become familiar once again at both Cancun and Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport, the country’s busiest gateways. Daily disruption tallies published on February 4 and February 10 show dozens of delayed departures and arrivals and several outright cancellations in just a matter of hours, with thousands of travelers forced to rebook or overnight unexpectedly.
Cancun, as Mexico’s flagship beach destination, has been especially sensitive to even small changes in airline reliability. On a single day in early February, more than 50 flights were delayed and two were canceled in Cancun alone, while Mexico City saw over 20 delays and one cancellation. Aeromexico, United Airlines and American Airlines were listed among the primary carriers affected, but the disruption was not limited to full service operators. Low cost carriers such as Viva Aerobus and Volaris also saw schedules thrown off, amplifying the effect for price conscious vacationers headed to or from Canadian and U.S. cities.
Follow up data on February 10 painted a similar picture, this time with Guadalajara added to the list of stress points. Across Mexico City, Cancun and Guadalajara, more than 80 flights were delayed and a handful canceled, with Viva Aerobus suffering both multiple cancellations and half a dozen delays in one day. WestJet, which maintains select seasonal Mexico services, also appeared among the airlines recording delays inbound or outbound from Mexican airports. Although each individual cancellation is a small event in a busy aviation system, the cumulative effect over several days is to upend vacation plans, create missed cruise departures and put pressure on hotel availability as travelers scramble to adjust.
Smaller Mexican airports are not immune. Live status boards for Puerto Vallarta’s international airport at the start of January showed a pattern of rolling minor delays and scattered schedule adjustments for flights operated by Viva Aerobus, WestJet and several U.S. carriers. While most of these aircraft eventually departed close to schedule, the pattern suggests how tightly wound operations are throughout Mexico’s coastal gateways. When a carrier then removes or cancels a key flight in this environment, there are few easy alternatives left for stranded travelers.
Why WestJet Is Pulling Back on Key Routes
Behind the scenes, WestJet’s route decisions are driven largely by changing demand patterns rather than safety concerns. Industry publications that track airline schedules day by day report that the Calgary based carrier has steadily filed reductions to its U.S. schedule for the first half of the Northern summer 2026 season. Comparing mid December plans with late January filings shows a cut of roughly one quarter of flights and nearly 30 percent of seats between Canada and the United States from late April through late June.
More recently, updated schedules released on February 8 outline further reductions covering late June through late October, extending suspensions on several U.S. routes and canceling planned services outright in markets such as Calgary to Raleigh and Edmonton to Chicago. Travel trade coverage published on February 9 points to softening demand for cross border trips as a key factor. Canadian and U.S. travelers alike appear to be consolidating their trips, prioritizing nonstop options and sometimes opting for carriers offering more frequent service or bundled vacation packages.
For Mexico bound travelers, the link is indirect but real. When an airline shrinks its U.S. network out of Canadian hubs, it reduces the pool of passengers that can easily be funneled onto its Mexico flights. WestJet’s decision to sunset Las Vegas to Toronto and Las Vegas to Winnipeg, for example, makes it harder for travelers who start their journey in Nevada to stay on WestJet all the way to Cancun, even if those Mexico flights remain in the timetable. The resulting drop in connecting traffic can in turn make certain Canada Mexico services more vulnerable to future cuts if load factors weaken.
In the short term, WestJet continues to operate several popular Mexico routes, including point to point leisure flights from Canadian cities to Cancun and the emerging resort hub of Tulum. Real time trackers for February show its Toronto to Tulum service running multiple times per week using Boeing 737 aircraft. Yet the carrier’s own communications emphasize that flight schedules are subject to change and that customers affected by cancellations or significant delays have defined rights under Canadian passenger protection rules. Travelers who rely on WestJet for their Mexico holidays should therefore monitor their bookings closely as the summer season approaches.
Viva Aerobus and the Impact of Regulatory and Operational Headwinds
Viva Aerobus faces a more complex mix of pressures that combine regulatory decisions with ordinary operational challenges. On the growth side, the airline is still adding capacity within Mexico, including new weekly frequencies between the northern city of Nuevo Laredo and Mexico City’s Felipe Angeles International Airport starting in April 2026. Executives describe strong demand for domestic travel and see opportunities to connect more regional cities with the capital for both business and leisure traffic.
At the same time, Viva Aerobus must adjust to restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which in late 2025 ordered the cancellation of 13 routes between Mexico and the United States operated by several Mexican carriers. Nine of those affected services belonged to Viva Aerobus and were tied to operations out of Mexico City’s newer Felipe Angeles airport. The U.S. action, rooted in a dispute over how Mexico has treated U.S. cargo and passenger operations at its airports, effectively froze expansion plans and forced Mexican airlines to reconfigure their international strategies.
The repercussions are still being felt in early 2026. With fewer authorized U.S. routes and limited ability to launch new ones, Viva Aerobus is leaning harder into domestic flying and select international markets, leaving some would be cross border travelers with fewer low cost options. When this structural constraint is layered onto short term disruptions like those seen this month at Mexico City, Cancun and Guadalajara, the result is a network that can feel brittle. Cancellations on a handful of Viva Aerobus flights in a single day can strand passengers in secondary cities and sever fragile connections to long haul services operated by foreign carriers.
For travelers, the key takeaway is that while Viva Aerobus is not pulling back from Mexico, its ability to deliver inexpensive, direct flights to and from the United States and Canada is currently limited by forces beyond pure market demand. Anyone considering an itinerary that relies on a tight connection from a Viva Aerobus domestic leg into an international flight out of Mexico City or Cancun should build in generous buffers and have a clear contingency plan if schedules slip.
How These Changes Affect Trips Between Mexico, Toronto and Beyond
Toronto has emerged as one of the main Canadian gateways for Mexico bound leisure travel, thanks to its large population base and dense web of airline connections. WestJet, Air Canada, Air Transat and newer entrants such as Porter have all carved out roles on Mexico routes from Toronto and nearby secondary airports. In early 2026, live schedule aggregators still show multiple nonstop options from the greater Toronto area to Cancun on a weekly basis, operated by a mix of these carriers.
The catch is that redundancy on paper does not always translate into ease for travelers on the ground. WestJet’s transborder route cuts remove some of the most convenient feeder flights for U.S. originating passengers who previously used Toronto as a bridge to Mexico. Meanwhile, when Cancun or Mexico City experience operational turbulence, even robust schedules from Toronto can become strained as delayed inbound aircraft disrupt subsequent rotations. On a day when Cancun records more than 50 delays and a couple of cancellations, a single late arriving aircraft from Toronto can trigger a cascade of missed connections and overnight stays.
Canada Mexico itineraries that route through Mexico City are even more exposed. Benito Juarez airport remains a congested facility with limited room for growth, and daily disruption tallies this month highlight how quickly delays can mount. Travelers connecting from a Viva Aerobus domestic leg into an international flight to Toronto on Air Canada or another foreign carrier are especially vulnerable, since separate tickets can leave them without protection if a late arrival causes a missed departure. The same dynamic holds in reverse for Canadians using Mexico City as a jumping off point for domestic travels.
These developments underscore a broader shift in how resilient North American air travel feels in 2026. While there are still many flights on the boards between Canada and Mexico, the system has less slack than it did before the pandemic era, and the margin for error is slim. A canceled WestJet connector in the U.S. Midwest, a cluster of Viva Aerobus delays in Guadalajara or a burst of weather related disruptions in Cancun can reverberate all the way to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and beyond.
Practical Advice for Travelers Navigating the Disruptions
For readers planning trips that touch Mexico City, Cancun, Guadalajara or Canadian hubs like Toronto and Vancouver in the coming months, awareness and preparation are crucial. The first step is to recognize that schedules published today for spring and summer 2026 may still change, especially on routes where airlines have already filed reductions. Before booking, travelers should check whether their chosen carrier has recently announced capacity cuts or route suspensions and consider alternatives on competing airlines where possible.
Those who choose or need to fly with WestJet or Viva Aerobus should monitor their reservations closely in the weeks and days leading up to departure. Airline apps and email alerts can flag schedule changes early, sometimes giving passengers a better choice of rebooking options. When connections are unavoidable, particularly ones that bridge different tickets or different airlines, building in extra time is wise. A three hour layover in Mexico City or Cancun might feel excessive, but it can make the difference between an inconvenient delay and a trip derailed by a missed onward flight.
Travelers should also familiarize themselves with passenger rights in the jurisdictions their trip touches. Canadian regulations outline compensation and care obligations when flights departing from or arriving in Canada are delayed or canceled for reasons within an airline’s control. Mexico has its own consumer protection rules for air travelers, and many international itineraries are additionally covered by global conventions. Understanding when you are entitled to meal vouchers, hotel accommodation or cash compensation can help turn a stressful disruption into a more manageable inconvenience.
Finally, flexibility remains one of the best defenses against ongoing volatility in the aviation system. Whenever possible, consider booking refundable or changeable fares, purchasing travel insurance that explicitly covers airline disruptions, and keeping accommodation and ground transport plans adaptable. With Viva Aerobus, WestJet and other carriers continuing to recalibrate their networks and with Mexican airports still experiencing periodic waves of delays, being ready to pivot can turn a potential travel nightmare into a story of resilience and resourcefulness.