Justice Department wins lawsuit to undo JetBlue, American Airlines partnership in the Northeast

Justice Department wins lawsuit to undo JetBlue, American Airlines partnership in the Northeast


An American Airlines plane takes off near a parked JetBlue plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 16, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The Justice Department has won a lawsuit to undo American Airlines‘ partnership with JetBlue Airways that allowed them coordinate routes and schedules in the Northeast U.S.

The lawsuit, filed in September 2021, alleged that the airlines’ alliance was effectively a merger that would hurt consumers by driving up fares. The trial began a year later in Boston and wrapped up in December.

Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines and New York-based JetBlue Airways argued they needed the so-called Northeast Alliance to better compete with other large carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in congested airports in the region.

JetBlue and American are not allowed to coordinate fares under the partnership, which was approved in the final days of the Trump administration in 2021 and has since expanded.

JetBlue had previously warned in a securities filing that a ruling against the NEA “could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

“Additionally, we are incurring costs associated with implementing operational and marketing elements of the NEA, which would not be recoverable if we were required to unwind all or a portion of the NEA,” the company said.

The airlines didn’t immediately comment on the ruling Friday.

Separately, on March 7, the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit to block JetBlue’s plan to acquire budget carrier Spirit Airlines, arguing the deal would drive up fares, “harming cost-conscious fliers most acutely.”

The combination faced a high hurdle for approval by the Biden administration, which has vowed to take a hard line against what it views as anticompetitive deals.

This is breaking news. Please check back for news.



Source

Yum Brands is cooking up more than fast food. It’s preparing the industry’s next CEOs
Business

Yum Brands is cooking up more than fast food. It’s preparing the industry’s next CEOs

Customers walk out of a Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurant during lunchtime in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images Looking for the next CEO for your restaurant chain? Try mining the ranks at Yum Brands. The restaurant conglomerate, which owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell and reported quarterly results Tuesday, has […]

Read More
AI is already impacting the labor market, starting with young tech workers, Goldman economist says
Business

AI is already impacting the labor market, starting with young tech workers, Goldman economist says

A screen displays the the company logo for Goldman Sachs on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 7, 2025. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Changes to the American labor market brought on by the arrival of generative AI are already showing up in employment data, according to […]

Read More
Roku launches ad-free streaming service, Howdy, for .99 a month
Business

Roku launches ad-free streaming service, Howdy, for $2.99 a month

A Roku remote in an arranged photograph in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, on May 2, 2021. Bloomberg |Getty Images Roku announced Tuesday it’s launched Howdy, a commercial-free streaming service that costs $2.99 a month, in a shift for the company that’s long been know for free, ad-supported viewing. The streaming platform is expected to feature 10,000 […]

Read More