JetBlue Airways Corporation revealed that it will not appeal the court ruling against its Northeast Alliance (NEA) with American Airlines Inc.
JetBlue stated that it “instead has begun finalizing the NEA, beginning a liquidation process that will take place in the coming months,” adding that the airline’s priority will be the merger with Spirit Airlines Inc.
“As it relates to the combination with Spirit, the termination of the NEA renders the concerns of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) about our partnership with a legacy airline entirely irrelevant. With that, the DOJ should reconsider and support our plan to create a national low-fare competitor to the Big Four…we are open to working with the DOJ to address any remaining concerns,” JetBlue said.
Concurring with the Justice Department, a federal judge ruled that American Airlines Group must end its alliance with JetBlue Airways Corp because it means higher prices for consumers and ordered the companies to break up.
The decision represented a victory for the administration of President Joe Biden, which has taken a hard line on consolidation and ties in the aviation industry. The Department of Justice, six states and the District of Columbia sued in 2021 to void the agreement announced in 2020, calling the “Northeast Alliance” a “de facto merger” of American and JetBlue’s Boston and New York operations that eliminates the incentives to compete.
