After “renewed” partnership talks with American recently fell through, JetBlue says it is looking at a new tie-up. Airline leadership teased the new partnership during its first-quarter earnings call this week.
On Monday, American said its latest talks over a partnership with JetBlue fell through due to “different business priorities.” Now, American is suing the New York-based airline for over $1 million, alleging that JetBlue owes unpaid fees.
Domestic Airline
In the past several months, JetBlue has shared that it is in talks with multiple airlines about potential partnerships. These discussions come after the airline’s Northeast Alliance with American was struck down by a federal judge in 2023.
JetBlue President Marty St. George confirmed Tuesday that a new partnership would be with another U.S. airline. He noted that JetBlue already has nearly 50 partnerships with international airlines.
“Furthermore, we have made good progress on discussions regarding a domestic airline partnership …,” he added.
For customers, St. George said the biggest benefit is a “significantly higher network opportunity” for JetBlue TrueBlue members.
“And that means, for example, today if you are a customer in the Northeast and you love JetBlue for leisure, but twice a year you have to go to Omaha or Boise, these are places that you can’t earn TrueBlue points on now,” St. George continued.
An announcement could come as early as the second quarter.
St. George added: “When this partnership goes forward … I’m really excited for just the overall broadening of the network opportunities, not just connectivity, but also just sort of better opportunities for our customers to fly more places with more frequency.”
