Originally Posted by
SDF_Traveler
Per the article, it seems Spirit made an oversight in not renewing their license to do business with Cuba.
This is the key. The non-renewal was the problem, not the overflight or the payments.
Originally Posted by
SDF_Traveler
I overfly Cuba on a regular basis when I take flights on American Airlines to Central/South America and parts of the Caribbean. The only difference is I presume AA's license to pay Cuba for overflight rights is current.
US carriers overfly "evil" nations when they need to despite US govt policy; I've flown over Iran at least a couple of times, if not more on international flights. A NWA flight even had to divert to Tehran a couple years ago.
USA-India flights overfly Iran every day. Ditto for Cuba. The Cuba rule is actually relatively new. I think that it was 12 or so years ago that the airlines were allowed to start over-flying Cuba again. The rule was made bilateral when Cubana was granted extended rights in the USA instead of having to hug the coast and then go across New York. That part of the deal was negotiated in '97 or '98 (
http://www.cubatrade.org/98hlights.html).