JetBlue tries to take Alaska Airlines' daily route to Cuba

Alaska Airlines plans to start flying from Los Angeles International to Cuba in January despite an attempt by rival JetBlue Airways to hijack the route away from the carrier and leave Southern California travellers out in the cold. Alaska Airlines was one of 8 US carriers awarded routes to Cuba under the Obama administration’s efforts to open relations with the communist country. JetBlue was also awarded Cuban routes and has begun service from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But when Alaska asked the US DoT to allow the airline to postpone the start of its service by 37 days, JetBlue petitioned the agency to reallocate the route to JetBlue. JetBlue suggested that Alaska wants a delay because the LAX-to-Cuba route doesn’t have strong passenger demand, and requested that JetBlue take the slot to instead fly a new route from Boston to Cuba. <br/>