JetBlue, American Airlines Begin First Steps To End Alliance – AirlineGeeks.com | Airlines

American Airlines and JetBlue announced Friday that from July 21, both carriers will begin the ‘first step in the wind-down process’ of their ‘pro-competitive, pro-consumer Northeast Alliance (NEA).’ The move reported by Reuters comes after a U.S. District Court Judge ruled in May that the three-year-old alliance ‘”substantially” diminished competition in the domestic airline market.’

Beginning July 21,  customers will no longer be able to book new codeshare bookings on either American Airlines or JetBlue. The airlines advised that customers with travel already booked would need to add TrueBlue or AAdvantage numbers to the existing booking before that date ‘in order to earn points, tiles and reciprocal perks.’

JetBlue’s NEA vice president Dave Fintzen said, “We are disappointed to be ending popular benefits like codesharing and reciprocal loyalty benefits. We know customers will miss these features and believe the U.S. Department of Justice’s position opposing them misses the mark. With the court’s recent ruling and the termination of the NEA, we have to sunset them in short order. Even as these benefits end, we are still committed to minimizing disruption to existing travel plans and continuing to deliver great value and our award-winning product and service to our customers.”

JetBlue had previously issued a statement advising that the carrier will not appeal the judge’s decision and seek to terminate the three-year arrangement with the world’s largest airline. JetBlue advised that the airline would now “turn even more focus to our proposed combination with Spirit, which is the best and most effective opportunity to truly transform the competitive landscape in the U.S. and bring the JetBlue Effect to more routes and markets across the country.”

With the termination of the NEA with American Airlines, JetBlue contends that…

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