American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has petitioned the US Department of Transportation to change and relax the rules governing the allocation of route rights between the US and Cuba by removing the current gateway conditions.

"This request, if granted, will provide all carriers that offer scheduled service to Cuba the flexibility to operate service from any US gateway where the carrier holds underlying route authority. Route flexibility will enable carriers to respond quickly and efficiently to the unusually frequent and marked changes in demand for US-Cuba travel since the re-introduction of scheduled service in 2016," the carrier wrote in the application.

American noted that since the US-Cuba market was opened in 2016, both itself and many other US carriers have cancelled multiple routes due to the specificity of the market and the relatively rigid rules governing route rights.

"Due to sharp and unforeseeable demand fluctuations, frequencies have gone unutilized pending Department reallocations and carriers have been unable to provide sufficient service where it is most needed. Granting carriers route flexibility resolves these problems by allowing market forces to work while maintaining the Department’s important role in the allocation of scarce frequencies," American further argued.

The carrier said it would like to move its current Charlotte International-Havana International service to Miami International, but cannot do so under the current rules. American's flights from Charlotte have a load factor of less than 55% with nearly all passengers connecting and no local traffic.

Separately, American Airlines also applied for traffic rights for a 7x weekly Miami-Santiago de Cuba route, due to start on May 3. The airline intends to operate the route with an A319-100. It would become the first US-based carrier to serve Santiago.

American also announced it would launch a new service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Durango International in Mexico, becoming the first US airline to serve the city. The flights are due to commence on June 6, 2019, and will operate 7x weekly with a E140 operatey by Envoy Air (MQ, Dallas/Fort Worth).

The carrier also announced other seasonal new routes for Summer 2019 connecting Dallas/Fort Worth with Latin America, namely flights to each of Santo Domingo Las Américas, San Pedro Sula, and Tegucigalpa.

Thanks to 15 new gates at Dallas/Fort Worth that American will start leasing in Summer 2019, the airline also plans to launch a host of new domestic routes out of its main hub, namely to: Harlingen, Augusta Bush Regional, Gainesville, FL, Yuma International, Bakersfield Meadows, Monterey, Grand Canyon Flagstaff Pulliam, and Burbank.