American and jetblue airlines The two airlines will stop selling seats on each other’s flights next Friday, two months after a federal judge ruled that their partnership in the Northeast violated antitrust law.
A judge ordered the two airlines to end a more than two-year-old partnership that allowed them to share passengers and revenue and coordinate flight schedules in the northeastern United States.Airlines argue they need to work together to better compete with rivals delta and Unity At crowded airports in New York City and Boston.
The Justice Department, six states and the District of Columbia sued to block the partnership, and won on May 20.
A JetBlue aircraft passes behind an American Airlines plane waiting to taxi at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Haller | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“Dave Fintzen, JetBlue’s vice president of Northeast alliances, said in a statement, “We are disappointed by the termination of such popular perks as codeshares and reciprocal loyalty benefits. “With the recent court ruling and the termination of the NEA, we must cancel them at short notice.”
JetBlue said last week it won’t appeal the ruling so it can focus on its $3.8 billion takeover Spirit AirlinesThe Justice Department also challenged the agreement, though JetBlue said it disagreed with the judge’s ruling against the Northeast Alliance. American Airlines, however, said it still plans to appeal Northeast Alliance’s ruling.
Earlier this week, the two airlines’ websites still showed the other’s year-end holiday flight options, but such sales will only last until July 20.
Both airlines said they would work with customers with existing bookings to ensure their plans were not disrupted.
“This is just the first step in a phase-out process that will take place over the next few months,” American said in a release. travel without interrupting their travel plans.”
Thursday is also the last day customers can book JetBlue flights using American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer miles.
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