The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced it has tentatively awarded Southwest Airlines a Saturday-only frequency for Havana International, Cuba flights. The allocation was left vacant by Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) which had used it for its Saturday New York JFK-Havana service until September 1.

Each of American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Southwest had submitted proposals for the use of the available frequency. Of the trio, American said it would use it to add a Saturday-only flight to the Cuban capital from Miami International using B737-800 equipment. Service would start no later than December 22. For its part, Southwest said it would use it to provide a second Saturday roundtrip flight between Tampa International and Havana. Currently Southwest provides one daily Tampa-Havana flight, plus two daily Fort Lauderdale International-Havana flights, all with B737 aircraft. Lastly, JetBlue proposed using the frequency to add a Saturday service to its existing Fort Lauderdale International-Havana flights.

Following a frequency allocation proceeding, the DOT awarded the frequency to Southwest on the grounds that it would best serve the public interest. The regulator premised its decision on the fact that Southwest's existing once-daily Tampa-Havana service has shown strong loads since its inception in December 2016. Moreover, the Texan LCC's US-Cuba load factors have also bucked the market's current downward trend in recent months.

The DOT also noted Southwest's plans to boost feeder traffic into Tampa which would benefit any future US-Cuba flights. This, it said, would offer a competitive choice to consumers from these behind cities while creating new opportunities to strengthen inter-gateway competition.

"The Department has favoured these factors in prior Havana allocation proceedings, and the Department tentatively finds that the additional travel options proposed by Southwest would enhance choices for the travelling public and would be consistent with the Department’s goal of promoting a competitive market structure in the US-Havana market," it said.

Once the DOT's finding has been made final, it will expect Southwest to inaugurate service with the newly allocated frequency within 90 days after December 1, 2018, Southwest’s proposed startup date.