Opening a new country and new route takes time, as US airlines work to open up direct flights to Cuba, time is definitely not on their side.
Here’s Why
Galo Beltran stands on the tarmac testing a handheld baggage scanner. Each time a barcode is successfully read, he smiles.
The device, which is used to track luggage, is deployed at airports across the world. But until this moment, Beltran wasn’t sure if it would work on Cuban cellular networks.
As satisfying as meeting that challenge was, there are hundreds more to be tackled as US airlines prepare to resume their first regularly scheduled flights to Cuba in five decades. Collecting baggage fees in a country where most US credit cards don’t work, for instance. And solutions need to be found rapidly – airlines must start flights within three months of being granted a route by the US government.
“We have a good plan in place,” says Beltran, a longtime American Airlines executive who is overseeing the airline’s entrance into Cuba. “Even with the challenges, we have been able to look for loopholes.”
Take the baggage scanner. While some US cellphones do work in Cuba, the US SIM card in the scanner wouldn’t connect. So the airline found a workaround: get SIM cards from another country.
The Department of Transportation on June 10th granted American and five other airlines permission to fly to nine Cuban cities. Normally, airlines spend up to a year preparing for new foreign markets. In this case, flights must start within 90 days of the government awarding the route. A decision is expected later this summer on the more-coveted – and contested – routes to Havana.
Airlines are racing to figure out how to offer the same streamlined service that is provided out of the US. Cuba’s airports lack self-serve check-in kiosks. The terminal currently used by US-bound charter flights has a tiny departure lobby and overflowing baggage belts. And all the workers are government employees, leading airlines to question if they will have a dedicated staff who can be trained in their policies and computer programs.
Andrew Watterson, senior vice-president of network and revenue at Southwest Airlines, notes that the unique challenges of US and Cuban regulations, along with the 90-day window to start operations, “leads to a high-pressure situation.”
“The timelines don’t fit all these extra complications,” Watterson says.
Teams from American and JetBlue Airways have already visited Cuba. Next week, a delegation organized by Airlines for America, the industry’s main trade and lobby group, will also head to the island nation.
All flights between the two countries today are charters, many operated by the carriers now seeking approval for scheduled service. When flying the route on behalf of a charter company, the airlines don’t have to worry about selling tickets or dealing with many of the logistical challenges. But all of that becomes the airlines’ responsibility once they start scheduled service.
