JetBlue Airways is getting ready to announce a partnership with another U.S. airline with a larger network in the coming weeks, the carrier’s president said Tuesday. One possibility: United Airlines.
JetBlue’s leaders have repeatedly said they need a partnership to better compete against larger airlines like Delta Air Lines and United.
JetBlue’s planned acquisition of Spirit Airlines was blocked by the Justice Department last year, while its partnership in the Northeast with American Airlines unraveled after the carriers lost an antitrust lawsuit in 2023.
The New York airline has been in talks with several carriers this year about a partnership. JetBlue’s president, Marty St. George, said on an earnings call on Tuesday that the company expects to make an announcement this quarter. He emphasized that the partner’s bigger network would allow customers to earn and burn loyalty points on JetBlue.
“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 and when this partnership goes forward, you will be able to,” St. George said.
United Airlines could possibly get a foothold (again) into JetBlue’s home hub of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York through the partnership. “We don’t engage in industry speculation,” a United Airlines spokeswoman said.
An Alaska Airlines spokeswoman said the carrier doesn’t have plans to partner with JetBlue and is focused on its recent merger with Hawaiian Airlines.
Southwest Airlines declined to comment. A Delta Air Lines spokesman said there was no pending announcement from the carrier about a partnership with another airline.
JetBlue declined to comment further.
American had been in talks to revive a different version of its partnership with JetBlue, but those failed and American said Monday that it sued JetBlue.
“Ultimately, we were unable to agree on a construct that preserved the benefits of the partnership we envisioned, made sense operationally or financially,” American Airlines Vice Chair Steve Johnson said in a letter to employees on Monday.
