American Airlines, JetBlue to halt codeshare flights from July 21
Reuters
Published Jul 14, 2023 10:18AM ET
Updated Jul 14, 2023 11:00AM ET
By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) said Friday they will begin to wind down their Northeast Alliance on July 21 after a U.S. judge's order in May that they end the agreement.
JetBlue said last week it would terminate the three-year-old alliance, which allowed the two carriers to coordinate flights and pool revenue.
Both airlines said starting July 21, American and JetBlue customers will no longer be able to book new codeshare bookings on the other airlines.
JetBlue has said it will not appeal the ruling, but American Airlines says it still plans to challenge U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin's decision that found the partnership "substantially" diminished competition in the domestic airline market.
American is the largest U.S. airline by fleet size while JetBlue is the sixth largest. The alliance's dissolution is a setback to American's strategy to grow revenue by relying more heavily on alliance partners to ferry passengers in uncompetitive markets.
The Northeast Alliance helped American compete in the New York market, where it had been losing money. It allowed American to move away from unprofitable routes while maintaining a presence in New York and letting it feed traffic to its global partners.
JetBlue argues terminating its alliance with American renders "entirely moot" the U.S. Justice Department's objections that led it to file suit to block its merger deal with Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE), which would be the biggest in the U.S. airline industry since American and US Airways merged in 2013.
A trial on the department's suit to block the deal is set for October.
The airlines said they are working "to minimize disruption to customers." For customers with travel already booked, frequent flyer numbers will need to be added to the booking before July 21, they said.
Customers can accrue frequent flyer credit for all tickets purchased prior to July 21 as long as account numbers are added before that date, they said.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.