TEXAS: American Airlines Group Inc says it ended discussions with JetBlue Airways Corp to revive a pact for the two airlines to team up again.
JetBlue “was focused on different business priorities, American said in a statement Monday.
“Ultimately, we were unable to agree on a construct that preserved the benefits of the partnership we envisioned, made sense operationally or financially.”
Fort Worth, Texas-based American also said it had filed a lawsuit against JetBlue to recover money owed from the unwinding of the two carriers’ prior to the Northeast Alliance pact.
JetBlue didn’t immediately respond to request for comment outside of normal business hours. The carrier is set to report its first quarter earnings later yesterday.
The previous northeast partnership was halted by the former Biden administration, after a federal appeals ruling concluded the pact violated antitrust laws.
The failure to revive their partnership could now leave the door open for one of American’s rivals to work with JetBlue, which has been engaged in talks on tie-ups with more than one airline.
The discussions come as JetBlue has been reshaping its internal operations, including ending service to more than a dozen cities and redistributing part of its flight network to focus on the East Coast. — Bloomberg
