American And JetBlue will stop selling seats on each other’s flights after Thursday, two months after a federal judge ruled the Northeast airlines’ partnership violated antitrust laws.
The judge ordered the airlines to end their more than two-year partnership that allowed them to share passengers and revenue and coordinate flight schedules in the Northeast US. The airlines argued they needed to join forces to better compete with the competition delta And United at congested airports serving New York City and Boston.
The Justice Department, six states and the District of Columbia filed suits to block this partnership and won the case on May 20.
A JetBlue Airways plane flies past an American Airlines jet waiting for a taxi at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
““We are disappointed to be removing popular benefits such as codesharing and mutual loyalty benefits,” Dave Fintzen, vice president of JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance, said in a statement. “With the court’s recent ruling and the termination of the NEA, we must put an end to them” in a short time.
JetBlue said last week that it would not be appealing the ruling so it could instead focus on acquiring $3.8 Spirit Airlines, a deal the Justice Department has also challenged, though JetBlue said it disagreed with the Northeast AIlliance judge’s decision. However, American said it still plans to appeal the ruling on the Northeast Alliance.
Earlier this week, airline websites were still showing each other’s flight options during the year-end holidays, but those sales will only continue through July 20.
Both airlines said they would be working with customers with existing bookings so their plans are not disrupted.
“This is just the first step in the settlement process that will take place over the coming months,” American said in a press release. “We will continue to work with the JetBlue team to ensure customers with existing codeshare bookings can travel seamlessly without impacting their travel plans.”
Thursday is also the last day customers can use American AAdvantage frequent flyer miles to book flights with JetBlue.
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