All four US major carriers and at least three independents filed applications with the US government Wednesday seeking approval to provide nonstop services to Cuba.
The flood of filings, submitted March 2, come after the US and Cuba announced an agreement in February to resume scheduled commercial air service. Services are expected to begin late summer or early fall this year, with an initial total of 20 daily round-trip flights being allocated to US airlines between the US and Havana and 10 daily round-trip flights to nine other Cuban cities.
Those slots will be hard fought over as the consolidated “big four”—American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines—and independents Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Silver Airways rushed to get their applications in. Ultra low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, based in Florida, has also said it said it plans to apply.
