In May 2023, a judge blocked the American Airlines and JetBlue Airways Northeast Alliance. American Airlines has been appealing the ruling ever since, though recently JetBlue announced it wouldn’t appeal the ruling. That means the partnership will be winding down, and we now know exactly what that will look like.
Continue reading: American & JetBlue End Partnership As of July 21, 2023
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
B6's IT is such a complete disaster on its own. And it's never successfully credited me miles/points for partner flights on AA or Hawaiian, despite having B6 numbers on the ticket/boarding passes. Maybe the alliance was useful for AA flyers, but pointless for B6 captives.
This has been great for my AA status out of SFO for a few t-con routes in particular. Going to be sad to see it go 🙁
Didn't they also exchange slots at JFK/LGA? I thought Jetblue was leasing a lot of AA's slots. Also I wonder if AA will restart LGA-BOS service.
Unfortunately, I would assume that is also going to end with it. Sounds like the two airlines are just going to go back to the way they were.
Wonder if this B6/Spirit merger will actually happen now?
AA has got to bring back BOS/LGA and some other routes now. Wonder which routes get cut as a result
B6 is flailing. the Spirit merger reeks of AS's purchase of Virgin, only with significantly larger costs and downsides. Where are the synergies? I don't see it.
Ben/anyone have any idea when AA would announce new routes out of NYC to make up for routes that they weren't flying because B6 was for them?
The one I have in mind is non-stop JFK-SLC...
The DOJ is correct that there is a separate process for even creating a codeshare request which the DOT oversees - so there is justification for B6 to decide it isn't worth trying to pick out pieces of the NEA and wait for the bureaucracy to play out.
AA is clearly the carrier that is most at risk from the wind down of the NEA and all of its elements so it is not a surprise they are trying to fight to slow its demise.
AA simply does not have the airplanes either from their mainline or regional jet fleets to re-add a bunch of service in the NE esp. given that their southern US hubs are performing very strongly.
The next big steps to watch in this process are the cancellation or re-addition of routes and the disposition of slots. I suspect we will see significant shrinkage of AA and B6 in markets that were directly a result of the NEA
Synergies:
- B6 and NK have identical airframes (A320 series); therefore similar training & maintenance
- Identical replacement aircraft on the order books
- Cross training a lot easier compared to AK & VX which were Boeing and Airbus respectively
- NK covers some of the holes (Denver) of B6 coverage which is East Coast centric.
- Biggest issue is brining NK staff & PAX up to B6 standards. ;-(
@DWT: This is my main concern as well, as it's the only aspect of the partnership I use.
@Ben: Any thoughts on this? Have there been any announcements?
I don't see it explicitly described - if I am an AA elite, I will no longer get early boarding and even more space seats with JetBlue, correct? And I can no longer earn AA miles by flying JetBlue?
I see that, in mid-August at least, all flights between LGA and BOS are B6. Will this be permitted to stand or will American be forced to stop marketing those flights? And what will they replace them with for the near term (Jly Aug 2023)?
With all due respect, you should have written "I suspect" at the beginning of your second paragraph, not at the beginning of your last sentence. Everything you wrote after your first paragraph is pure conjecture. By the way, conjecture and guesswork are fun.
By the way, and as you are well aware, Delta had a killer quarter. I'm really happy about that because I don't want to see any airline liquidated.
American Airlines is not showing Etihad Award Flights online now. It was showing up until last week but today it isn't showing up. Could you please find out what is going on?
I don't think any airline will need to file for bankruptcy reorganization, let alone be liquidated.
And, yes, AA is the most vulnerable in losing the NEA.
They initiated the whole NEA to try to protect the slots they were unable to use, they were the ones that financially subsidized it when it was clear that the strategy they devised wasn't a financially equal partnership, and they are the ones that are holding onto the hope of an appeal.
And, as I have repeatedly noted, AA has very strong southern hubs - more than any of the big 4 - which are growing - but they have the most economically fragile northern tier hubs. Their decision to change their distribution strategy is a direct result of their inability to win corporate traffic in competitive hubs on both coasts and also says they are willing to accept that they will be smaller in NYC, just as at LAX, and will carry what they can but not chase volume or high value, both of which DL and UA do better.
Even LAX to BOS only has 2 AA operated flights per day and the rest went to B6, and this is the case for the rest of the year. I hope AA fills those spots quickly, or they are leaving their elites out to dry.
Reasonable - can get the points and benefits if booked and account number added before the deadline.
If i bought a ticket through jet blue for american airlines flight end of august ,is that flight upheld ?
Can't speak for whatever it is you're doing, but Eithad is pricing out for AAdvantage awards (e.g. DEL-AUH) just fine for me....
This stinks! Being based in nyc it has been really nice to enjoy AA elite benefits on B6. Sad to see this ends.
Just wondering hypothetically, if JetBlue was a oneworld member, would the judge demand that they leave oneworld as well?
no because being in an alliance does not confer antitrust immunity which is what AA and B6 were doing under the NEA.
ATI and JVs are a process that requires application specifically for that purpose, the DOJ has a right to weigh in on but that didn't happen before the NEA was created, and that is why the DOJ immediately moved to file suit against the NEA - and ultimately won.
I always had to file a missing miles request to AAdvantage for my JetBlue flights. Didn’t matter if I booked on B6 or AA. Also wasn’t able to select seats in advance when booked on AA.com. The only time seat selection worked was inside 24 hours and I could choose even more space. That said, I hope AA brings back MCO. I have no interest in connecting instead of a 2 1/2 hour nonstop, even if it means no status on B6/DL and forgoing loyalty points.
Damn shame, it was a useful partnership. I scored a Mint seat BOS to SFO for 65,000 miles which I consider a decent redemption, especially in this era of the disappearing J class award.
For a while, Mint seats were showing as "Business Class" on AA.com. They fixed that toot feckin sweet but I scored one.
So I can no longer earn AA points when booking a Jet blue flight on Jet blues website?
I hope I never have to change airlines again without knowing beforehand. Jetblue is always late