Last week, the newly inaugurated Trump administration warned it was in the middle of a "full review" of U.S. policy toward Cuba—prompting new questions about how committed President Donald Trump will be to the political and cultural thaw began under his predecessor.
However, uncertainty over Trump's Cuba policy did not prevent American Airlines from opening a ticket office in Havana this week, a mere two months after the carrier flew the first scheduled commercial flight from the U.S. to Havana since 1961.
American's (NASDAQ: AAL) new outpost in Cuba underscores how both U.S. fliers and air carriers are rushing to make the most of the first real opening between the two countries in decades—despite lingering questions about whether that thaw will continue in the Trump era.
"We cannot speculate about what [Trump's] next step will be, but I can assure you that we are moving our machine forward," said Galo Beltran, Cuba manager for American Airlines told the Associated Press, "You are a witness to the investment and how important Cuba is to American as a U.S. entity doing business."
American began flying to Havana from Miami and Charlotte in late November, and from Miami to five other Cuban cities in September. After a mid-February 'schedule adjustment' that drops one of two daily flights between Miami and three cities (Holguin, Santa Clara and Varadero), American will be operating 10 daily flights to six Cuban cities.
Other U.S. airlines competed for the go-ahead to offer service to Havana and other Cuban cities. These include Delta (which in November was the first U.S. airline to open a ticket office in Havana), Spirit, United, Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest (NYSE: LUV), all of which are sticking with their original flight schedules.
"Myriad external forces govern the climate in which we operate – prices of energy, labor," said Brad Hawkins, spokesman for Southwest Airlines, which currently operates a dozen daily roundtrips between Cuba and the U.S.. As of right now, "Our Cuba flights are performing in-line with our expectations."
JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) reported the same.
"Cuba routes are performing as expected," said JetBlue spokesman Philip Stewart, "As has been the case since we completed all of our route launches last fall, we continue to operate nearly 50 roundtrips between the U.S. and Cuba every week on six unique routes."
As one would expect from tourists prohibited from visiting a cultural Mecca for decades, many U.S. visitors who now fly to Havana join walking tours through the city's old quarters, take rides in restored vintage cars and visit the Presidential Palace (home of the Revolutionary Museum), Hemingway's House and the studios of local artists.