Report: American Airlines-JetBlue Partnership Talks Are Off
American Airlines and JetBlue have both made public comments supporting a desire to partner again after losing an antitrust trial over their ‘Northeast Alliance’.
The judge in that case was explicit: an arrangement like American Airlines has with Alaska Airlines would have passed muster. And with a new administration, it’s not clear whether an even more significant tie-up would have faced opposition.
Their previous partnership made both American and JetBlue relevant in the New York market to New York customers. It gave them plenty of flights with which to compete with Delta and United for customer loyalty. It let them deliver elite benefits across a full set of routes. It made them competitive for co-brand credit card spending as well.
JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty even went so far as to suggest that her airline was in talks to revise something like her partnership with American that hewed closely to the antitrust ruling. She wouldn’t confirm those talks were with American – though “it certainly could be with American.”
Unfortunately for New York customers of JetBlue and American Airlines, it looks like those talks are off – as reported by aviation watchdog JonNYC.
AA:
“Recent talks to partner with B6 have gone kaput, so AA is on its own in NY for foreseeable future”(AA related, not an official quote -from- AA)
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) April 28, 2025 at 5:09 PM
There has been talk of United Airlines doing a deal with JetBlue and speculation that its CEO Scott Kirby flattering of President Trump’s tariffs, and the airline donating $1 million to his inauguration, could be in hopes of winning antitrust approval for a deal that would bring United back into New York JFK and strengthen their position in Boston, at Washington National airport and Fort Lauderdale.
Without a partnership, American Airlines is left ‘too small to win, too big to walk away’ in the words of its former Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja. Government slot controls mean they cannot grow organically. They’re unable to generate the scale to offer enough service to keep New York customers loyal, which leaves them competing on price.
Before the JetBlue deal New York lost money for American for several years, based on their own accounting. With the JetBlue deal they saw increased AAdvantage program signups and credit card conversion, since they were newly relevant in the largest spend market in the country. There are no other game-changing options.
Sadly, instead of a viable New York strategy, American is left suing JetBlue for fees from the breakup of their partnership.
