World Atlantic Airlines (WL, Miami International) has been authorised by the US Department of Transportation to wet-lease a B757 from Icelandair (FI, Reykjavik Keflavik), despite US labour unions objecting to the Icelandic carrier entering the US ACMI market.

The Florida-based charter specialist will deploy the wet-leased aircraft on routes from the US to Cuba and other destinations in the Caribbean. The wet-lease's consent runs from July 14 through October 15, 2022. However, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows the contract has yet to begin.

The DOT authorisation does not specify the variant of the B757 to be deployed, although the carrier requested approval for a B757-200. Icelandair operates eighteen B757-200s and two B757-300s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. World Atlantic Airways operates an in-house fleet of seven MD-83s.

The wet-lease application was filed shortly after the US administration lifted restrictions on charter flights to Cuban regional airports.

The ACMI contract was opposed by US labour unions and iAero Airways (WQ, Greensboro Piedmont Triad International) on the grounds that it should be allocated to US carriers, thus creating jobs domestically.

Earlier, a range of US airlines, including World Atlantic Airways, objected to Icelandair's plans to operate charter flights to Cuba on behalf of tour operators. The DOT rejected these objections in January 2022.