United Airlines seeks to resume US flights to Cuba

United said Wednesday it is working to resume flights to Cuba later this year that it suspended in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline said it has been working for months to relaunch service but faces hurdles. It asked the USDOT for a waiver for 30 additional days as it works to resume service. United previously flew seven flights weekly to Havana from its Houston and Newark hubs. United said it needs to "undertake significant work including re-negotiating multiple contracts with service providers that have lapsed, building out necessary infrastructure in Terminal 3 at Havana’s airport where United is being relocated." United said given the challenges it is concerned it cannot resume flights by an Oct. 31 USDOT deadline. On Monday, the Biden administration agreed to expand US flights to Havana, adding 13 weekly American Airlines departures from Miami and a weekly JetBlue Airways departure from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That is on top of the typical six daily American Airlines flights and three JetBlue flights weekdays to Havana from the Florida airports.<br/>