A United Airlines as a JetBlue Air plane takeoff arrives at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, United States on June 8, 2023.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu agency | Getty images
United Airlines has a new friend in Queens.
The airline plans to return to John F. Kennedy in New York’s international airport again, this time thanks to a new partnership with JetBlue Airways.
The partnership, called Blue Sky, will allow the airlines To sell seats on the other’s site and let JetBlue Customers Win Miles of frequent travelers on United and Vice Versa. It also includes advantages of reciprocal loyalty such as priority boarding and more spacious seats for travelers with elite status. The agreement is subject to a regulatory examination.
Certain aspects of the partnership, which the carriers announced Thursday, will start in the fall, although the airlines have not provided an exact calendar. They also did not provide financial details of the agreement.
Jetblue leaders have long declared that they needed a partnership to better compete with large airlines like United and their shared rival Delta airlines.
The new partnership does not stop at the coordination of the flights that JetBlue had in its former alliance in the Northeast with American airlineswho was struck by a federal court for antitrust reasons two years ago. Last year, a judge blocked JetBlue Plan to buy Budget transporter in difficulty Spirit.
“This collaboration with United is a daring step for the industry – one that brings together two
Airlines focused on the customer to offer more choices for travelers and value in our networks, “said Joanna Geraghty, CEO of JeanBlue, in a press release.
United JFK left In 2015, and the current CEO Scott Kirby called this error because the movement of transcontinental flights to Newark allowed American to win business customers. It briefly returned in 2021Thanks to a lull from the airport traffic era at airport, where the capacity is normally closely controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration.
United left JFK again in 2022 because it could not secure the longer term locations.
Kirby has repeatedly said that he wanted the airline to return to JFK. The carrier has struggle in recent weeks Air staff shortages and congestion at its center of Newark.
Under the new agreement, United will be able to fly up to seven daily round trips at Kennedy Congestionné airport, which gives it more extent in the New York region, although the new operation is still overshadowed by the main center of United in the Newark Liberty International Airport region in New Jersey.
United JFK flights will start in 2027 at the earliest, the carriers said. JetBlue, meanwhile, will get eight flights in Newark. United did not say what roads he planned to operate at JFK, although his last foray is for the service in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
They described the exchange of “neutral exchange of the net”.
