The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has advised SPS Air (El Paso) that it intends to dismiss the start-up's application to conduct operations as a commuter air carrier, due to a lack of correspondence.

SPS applied for the authority in January 2016 but put the process 'on hold' in November while it went through the process of upgrading its certification with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The DOT has said that as they have not been informed about the status of the FAA certification, they will now dismiss the application.

"The Department fully expects an applicant for commuter authority to be prepared to prosecute its application at the time it is filed," the DOT's letter says. "While we are willing to work with applicants, where warranted, and allow additional time to file information, we cannot allow applications to remain pending indefinitely."

In its original application, SPS proposed offering a 5x daily service between Los Angeles Torrance and San Diego McClellan Palomar using its sole aircraft, a 4-seater Cirrus SR22G3 aircraft.