Southwest Airlines New Routes To Cuba Mask a Deeper Corporate Power Play—Who Really Wins?
A skeptical observer can't help but notice the timing and beneficiaries of Southwest Airlines new routes to Havana and other Cuban cities. While the airline touts "expanded leisure travel," the real question is why now, amid renewed U.S.-Cuba tensions and soaring domestic flight prices? The answer may lie in a quiet federal subsidy windfall and a strategic pivot to capture lucrative immigrant remittance traffic—bypassing traditional civil rights scrutiny. Meanwhile, competing airlines quietly shuffle their own Caribbean schedules, suggesting this isn't about customer choice but a coordinated carve-up of a market many thought was off-limits. Before you book that cheap ticket, ask who profits from this sudden "openness"—and why your layover just got longer.