American Airlines and JetBlue Airways will terminate to sell seats on each other’s flights starting Friday, July 21, following a judge’s determination that the partnership deal between these two companies violated antitrust laws. This measurement will take place in the northeastern region of the United States and it’ll affect the routes both companies shared. Their deal came into effect in 2021 before it was ordered to end this month.
The federal judge ordered both airlines to end their agreement, which made them able to share passengers, revenue and to put together schedules for their flights. The alliance was deemed “anti-competitive” because it took so much from the rest of the market and made American and JetBlue the strongest offers for air traffic. In contrast, the companies expressed that the partnership was necessary to better compete against Delta and United Airlines. About the situation, vice president of the Northeast Alliance at JetBlue, Dave Fintzen, said:
″We are disappointed to be ending popular benefits like codesharing and reciprocal loyalty benefits. With the court’s recent ruling and the termination of the NEA, we have to sunset them in short order.”
After the deal between both air companies was rejected, JetBlue attempted to focus on the acquisition of Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion. However, the Justice Department disapproved of the alliance, while American Airlines expressed their interest in appealing the ruling before the same entity. The airline expressed that “this is just the first step in the wind-down process that will take place over the coming months,” and later added “we will continue to work with the JetBlue team to ensure customers who have existing codeshare bookings can travel seamlessly without disruption to their travel plans.”