American Airlines Ends Partnership Talks and Sues JetBlue
American Airlines said on Monday that it has ended partnership talks with JetBlue Airways and filed a lawsuit seeking damages after the collapse of the Northeast Alliance (NEA). The NEA was first announced in 2020 and then dissolved in 2023 after a court ruling.
The latest information was shared in a letter that was sent to team members from its Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer Steve Johnson.
The letter starts by saying that in recent months, the airline “had been exploring an opportunity to further enhance our network by renewing a partnership with JetBlue. As always in considering partnerships, the objective was to advance our business strategy and enhance our customer proposition by building on American’s network position and giving a partner’s customers access to our global network and the world’s best loyalty program in AAdvantage.”
American Airlines says it proposed a very attractive proposition to JetBlue and its customers and team, but that JetBlue was focused on different business priorities.
American says that it will continue to compete “aggressively in New York and Boston, and we are committed to enhancing our customer proposition in the Northeast. Over the past year, we have added more than 20 new routes from LGA and JFK using the slots returned to us after the NEA ended.”
American Airlines also revealed that it filed a lawsuit against JetBlue to recover money owed to American following the unwinding of the Northeast Alliance. “We understandably tabled this claim while we were in discussions with JetBlue, but now that those conversations have concluded, we need to address the accounting and reconciliation following the termination of the NEA,” the airline said in its letter.
JetBlue on the other hand, revealed on its earnings call today that they are still anticipating to announce a US airline partner at some point over the next two months.
