AmAmerican and JetBlue Aim to Safeguard Codeshare and Frequent Flyer Agreements Following Court Ruling

American Airlines and JetBlue Airways have asked a U.S. judge to allow them to continue their codeshare and frequent flyer agreements, despite a court ruling that ordered them to end their Northeast Alliance (NEA) that they used to coordinate flights and pool revenue.

The airlines filed a motion late Friday, arguing that their codeshare and frequent flyer agreements are lawful and beneficial for consumers, and that terminating them would cause significant disruption and harm to travelers.

Codeshare agreements allow multiple airlines to sell seats for the same flight, while frequent flyer agreements allow customers to earn and redeem miles on partner airlines.

The airlines said that these agreements are separate from the NEA, which was announced in 2020 and covered 18 routes from Boston and New York to other destinations in the U.S. and abroad.

The NEA was challenged by the Justice Department and six states, which sued the airlines in 2021, claiming that the alliance was a “de facto merger” that reduced competition and raised prices for consumers.

On May 19, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that the NEA violated antitrust laws and ordering the airlines to part ways within 30 days.

The airlines said they plan to appeal the ruling, but in the meantime, they asked the judge to allow them to keep their codeshare and frequent flyer agreements, which they said are not part of the NEA and do not harm competition.

The airlines said that these agreements allow them to offer more travel options, lower fares, better service and more connectivity to customers, especially in markets where they do not compete directly.

The airlines also said that ending these agreements would cause confusion and inconvenience for customers who have already booked or plan to book flights with them, as well as for their employees and business partners.

The Justice Department opposed the motion, saying that the judge should not “craft a new ‘NEA Lite’ on the fly” and that the airlines should “abandon their entanglements and return to being fully independent competitors”.

The department also proposed additional conditions for the unwinding of the NEA, such as requiring the airlines to disclose information about their operations, pricing and capacity, and prohibiting them from entering into any similar alliance with any other U.S. airline for two years.

The airlines rejected these conditions, saying that they are onerous, unnecessary and violate antitrust principles.

The judge has not yet ruled on the motion.

American Airlines is the largest U.S. airline by fleet size and JetBlue Airways is the sixth largest. The NEA was part of their strategy to compete with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines , which have stronger presences in Boston and New York.