JetBlue Still in Talks With ‘Multiple Airlines’ for Partnership

JetBlue president Marty St. George said Wednesday the carrier is still in talks with "multiple airlines” about a partnership.

“We have said we're talking to multiple airlines,” he said at the Barclays Industrials Conference. “We're still talking.”

JetBlue executives have expressed interest multiple times in reviving an airline partnership similar to that of the Northeast Alliance. A federal judge struck down the deal  — JetBlue’s partnership with American Airlines — in May 2023 on the grounds that it was anticompetitive. 

The first Trump administration approved the Northeast Alliance, and the Biden administration sued to block it. The Biden administration also sued to block JetBlue’s merger with Spirit, which was struck down by a federal judge last year. 

Airlines executives have also been more hopeful that a second Trump administration will have a more relaxed attitude toward mergers.  

During the carrier’s latest earnings call in January, CEO Joanna Geraghty said JetBlue was “having conversations with a number of carriers right now to discuss the potential for future partnership.”

“If we find a deal that's accretive, we'll absolutely do it,” St. George said at the conference on Wednesday. 

He added that the carrier’s strategy, known as “JetForward,” had allocated some money for a partnership. 

“We didn't really gauge how big it would be or how small it would be,” St. George said. “So if that number has to change, we'll guide it.”

The strategy currently includes cutting unprofitable routes, deferring aircraft orders and focusing more on leisure routes out of New York and Boston. 

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

JetBlue Thinks a Partnership Could Bolster Loyalty Program

St. George said he believed the “biggest benefit” of a partnership would be strengthening JetBlue’s loyalty program. 

“One of the things that we clearly hear from our customers is that the utility of a TrueBlue point is not as strong as the utility of a point from the Big 3 airlines [American, Delta and United],” he said. “And we had not really gotten to full earn and burn with American before that deal was struck down. But I think the ability to bring that utility to TrueBlue would be fantastic.”

JetBlue currently plans to open its first-ever lounge at New York’s JFK at the end of the year in a bid to attract more high-spend travelers. Executives have said that they hope that lounge and JetBlue’s new premium credit card could attract flyers who use “Big 3” loyalty programs. 

“There's this vast, vast amount of people who fly a good amount every year, who are lost by some of the bigger programs,” Geraghty said in a call with analysts in October. “And we see a real opportunity, opportunity with them.”

United Shuts Down Merger Rumors

There was some speculation that United Airlines was potentially interested in merging with JetBlue or buying some of its assets. However, United shut down those rumors in a regulatory filing posted January 31.

“It has come to the Company's attention that there may be rumors spreading among certain of our investors regarding United's involvement in a potential strategic transaction with another airline,” United said in the filing. “The Company is not in negotiations or discussions with any other airline regarding a merger, acquisition or similar strategic transaction and has not been in any recent discussions with any airlines regarding the same.”