American Airlines lost its appeal to revive an alliance with JetBlue that collapsed after lawsuits succeeded in declaring it anticompetitive, a judge ruled Friday.
The scrapped alliance between American Airlines, the U.S.'s largest airline, and JetBlue, the sixth-largest airline, had the carriers coordinatimg flights, seats and sharing profits.
In July 2023, a judge ruled that the alliance was anticompetitive and would drive up ticket prices.
“The Northeast Alliance was designed to increase competition and expand customer options in the Northeast, which it clearly did during the time it was allowed to operate," an American Airlines spokesperson told ConsumerAffairs. "We are reviewing the decision and considering our options."
JetBlue didn't immediately respond to an email from ConsumerAffairs requesting comment.
Why was the American Airlines, JetBlue alliance considered anticompetitive?
In Sept. 2021, the attorneys general of seven states, including California, Florida and Pennsylvania, sued American Airlines and Jet Blue over the alliance, saying it would cost flyers hundreds of millions of dollars in more expensive tickets by limiting flights and competition.
“Fewer flights. More expensive tickets. Lower quality service. That’s what happens when one of the last shreds of real competition is eliminated from the market for air travel,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at the time.
The so-called Northeast Alliance would have affected least nine airports with routes that begin or end in New York or Boston, effectively allowing the airlines to function as a single carrier, the attorneys general said.
Attorneys general said the Northeast Alliance would have done similar harm to flyers as the American-U.S. Air merger and Alaska Airline's acquisition of Virgin America, which impacted certain airports and drove up prices.