25,000+ sign petition in support of Southwest Airlines’ application to serve Cuba

DALLAS, TX – Southwest Airlines Co today announced more than 25,000 individuals have signed a petition to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), registering their support of the carrier’s application to serve Cuba.

Southwest has proposed service among three international airports in Cuba, including Havana, and three Florida airports: Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL); Tampa Bay International Airport (TPA); and Orlando International Airport (MCO). As the largest carrier of domestic passengers in the United States, the proposed nonstop flights would provide convenient connecting access to Cuba for dozens of cities across the United States on the Southwest Airlines network.

Earlier this month, Southwest filed an application with the DOT requesting governmental approval to serve Cuba with daily nonstop flights from the carrier’s three busiest airports in Florida. Since that initial application on March 2, 2016, Southwest has received 120+ letters of support from local, regional, and national organizations, including Orlando, Inc., South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Tampa Bay Partnership, United States Black Chamber of Commerce, United States Business Leaders Network, and United States Hispanic Leadership Institute.

At the filing deadline, 25,083 individual supporters endorsed Southwest’s DOT application by visiting Southwest.com/Cuba to petition U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. These individuals consist of a diverse voice of tens of thousands of citizens across the country supporting Southwest’s low-fare competition and Customer-friendly travel options to Cuba.

Upon approval of the routes in the DOT frequency allocation process, Southwest will publish its low fares and flight schedules for Cuba service and intends to begin operations to Cuba later this year.