The US Department of Transportation has approved an application by Icelandair to fly up to 31 round trip flights a week between the United States and Cuba on behalf of Florida-based World Atlantic Airlines. The approval for the flights this summer came despite strident objections from the Air Line Pilots Association, Swift Air, and the Allied Pilots Association.

Icelandair overcomes objections of US-based aviation interests

In mid-June, Simple Flying reported Icelandair's application to wet lease a Boeing 757-200 to World Atlantic Airlines to operate the flights. It is not the first time Icelandair has done this. For example, earlier this year, Icelandair flew between three US cities and Cuba on behalf of Miami-based Anmart Air.

But as that report noted, US-based aviation players don't like outside players encroaching onto what they see as their turf. Dark claims of harm to US interests and abuse of flying rights were raised. The Department of Transportation (DOT) says it considered all of the objections, including procedural aspects, market access, competitive factors, travel restrictions, and some public interest factors. But the DOT says the arguments were not persuasive enough to knock back Icelandair's application.

The benefits outweigh the objections

"We have decided to approve Icelandair's application," says the DOT in its approval notice that gives Icelandair permission to operate the flights between July 14 and October 31. The DOT says several factors got the Icelandair application over the line; including reciprocity in Icelandair's home market; the level of Icelandair's reliance on seventh-freedom operations as compared to its third/fourth-freedom operations; the needs of the charterer (World Atlantic Airlines); and the public interest.

"We find that sufficient reciprocity exists with Iceland to support grant of the carrier's extra bilateral request as conditioned and note that there is no evidence on the record from any party to indicate that the Government of Iceland has denied seventh-freedom charter requests of US carriers," the DOT notice says.

Seventh freedom refers to the right to fly between two foreign countries, whereas third and fourth freedom flying rights deal with flying from an airline's home country to another country. One of the objections raised was that Icelandair relied too much on seventh freedom flying instead of focusing on flights to and from Iceland. In airline circles, that is a big no-no.

"We have also considered the undue reliance claim, a factor that we take very seriously. That claim is not supported in this case," says the DOT. The US Government department also says it prefers to offer charterers like World Atlantic Airlines the maximum flexibility possible when choosing an airline and aircraft to best suit their operational needs. The DOT says World Atlantic clearly argued why Icelandair was best suited to meet its needs.

"This factor, along with our findings above supports the granting of the requested authority under our well-established public interest standards for considering requests of this nature." adds the DOT when providing some context to the decision.