JetBlue Terminates NEA, American to Continue Appeal

JetBlue notified American Airlines on June 29 that it was terminating the Northeast Alliance agreement and related agreements with the carrier, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. 

JetBlue noted that the decision to end the agreement was a result of the May 19 ruling by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts ordering the carriers to dismantle the alliance. JetBlue in a Wednesday statement said it “strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling” but has made the “difficult decision” not to appeal it and instead is “beginning a wind down process that will take place over the coming months.” 

JetBlue also noted that it would turn its attention to its proposal to acquire Spirit Airlines, which is facing its own antitrust lawsuit. “Terminating the NEA renders the DOJ concerns about our partnership with a legacy carrier entirely moot,” JetBlue wrote.

American, however, is taking another course of action.

“We, of course, respect JetBlue’s decision to focus on its other antitrust and regulatory challenges,” American wrote in a Wednesday statement. “At the same time, JetBlue’s decision and reasoning confirm our belief that the NEA has been highly pro-competitive and that an erroneous judicial decision disregarding the NEA’s consumer benefits has led to an anticompetitive outcome. American will therefore move forward with an appeal.”

The carriers announced their partnership in July 2020, combining operations at Boston and the three major New York airports, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed its antitrust suit in September 2021. The trial began in September 2022, with several executives from both airlines taking the stand to defend the agreement. Closing arguments were held in November. The DOJ argued that the alliance was a “de facto merger.”