tl;dr – A domestic carrier has grounded operations following the incident.
For the last several years, Haiti has faced a severe, multifaceted crisis characterized by pervasive gang violence, a humanitarian disaster, and a political vacuum. It’s estimated that Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital, is ~80% controlled by gangs, and throughout much of the country, essential services are near collapse. Following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, the country has faced ongoing political instability, and the illegal trade of firearms – mostly coming from the US – has only exacerbated the violence.
In November 2024, Spirit Airlines and JetBlue suspended all operations to Haiti after each airline experienced distinct incidents involving gunfire on its aircraft. Spirit pulled out of Haiti after one of its planes was hit by gunfire, injuring a flight attendant. An inspection of a JetBlue plane that had just flown to Port-au-Prince revealed that a round of gunfire had struck the aircraft. Though there were no reported gunfire incidents to its fleet, American Airlines pulled out of the market entirely, and the FAA grounded all US flights to the Caribbean island nation’s capital.
This past week, Haitian-based carrier Sunrise Airways cancelled all of its domestic flights (to Port-au-Prince) after it received bullets upon its final approach into the nation’s capital.
Sunrise Airways operates several other routes, between several other Caribbean Islands, to Central America (Panama) and even to the United States. These other routes are still operating as normal.
Haiti is a resilient nation that has dealt with a lot over the last 35 years – there’s been two coups, a devastating earthquake (and resulting cholera outbreak), an equally devastating category 5 Hurricane (Matthew), and the current ongoing crisis.
Historically, Haiti has also served as an inspiration for subjugated peoples all over the world. Haiti rid itself of slavery through the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), a successful slave revolt against French colonial rule that led to the establishment of the world’s first free Black republic in 1804. The revolution, inspired by the French Revolution, was the only instance where enslaved people defeated a European army to create an independent nation founded by former captives.
I, for one, hope that the people of Haiti can see an end to the crisis and much brighter days soon.
In a bit of good news, Haiti recently qualified for the World Cup – the first time in 50 years. Given the ongoing crisis, Haiti’s football team is forced to play even its ‘home’ games abroad.
