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American Airlines is suing JetBlue “to recover money owed to American following the unwinding of the Northeast Alliance (NEA),” a letter sent to team members on Monday said.
American shared the letter from its Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer, Steve Johnson, following “industry rumors and media reports about American’s discussions with JetBlue.”
American Airlines and JetBlue had been discussing a new partnership aimed at strengthening its network and loyalty program, a judge found after a 2023 trial that the NEA violated federal antitrust law — a decision which was then upheld by a federal appeals court.
Johnson’s letter to employees said American Airlines is focusing on the New York and Boston markets.
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File photo of JetBlue and American Airlines planes at LaGuardia Airport in the Queens borough of New York City. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg / Getty Images)
“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,” Johnson said in the letter.
“Together with our partners, this summer we will offer New York travelers more than 250 daily nonstop flights to 100 markets around the world – from two exceptional terminal facilities, including the best lounges in our system. At JFK, we continue to improve connectivity by co-locating at T8 with our partners, including British Airways, Iberia, JAL, Qatar, and, as we recently announced, Alaska and Hawaiian.”
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An American Airlines plane lands on a runway near a parked JetBlue plane. ( Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
In February, JetBlue said it was still in talks with multiple airlines to establish a partnership and is willing to allocate more funds to get a deal done.
The NEA was announced in July 2020 and received approval from the U.S. Transportation Department just days before the end of Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in January 2021.
A file photo of a JetBlue airplane on an undisclosed airport’s tarmac. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
The alliance allowed the two carriers to coordinate flights and share revenue.
Court records, filed in Texas and obtained by Reuters, show American Airlines is seeking monetary relief of more than $1 million, excluding attorney fees and costs from JetBlue.
Ticker Security Last Change Change % AAL AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. 9.85 +0.10
+1.03%
JBLU JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. 4.07 +0.19
+4.90%
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JetBlue, in response to the lawsuit, said it has been working collaboratively with American to wind down the NEA since a court ruling deemed it anti-competitive.
“We plan to review American’s complaint, and as this is pending litigation, we cannot comment further at this time,” a JetBlue spokesperson told Reuters.
Reuters contributed to this report.
