AA and Jetblue forge new relationship
 

Press Release Source: JetBlue Airways On Wednesday March 31, 2010, 8:00 am

Under the terms of the agreement, American intends to transfer eight slot pairs at Ronald Reagan National Airport and one slot pair at White Plains, N.Y. to JetBlue, and JetBlue intends to transfer 12 slot pairs at John F. Kennedy International Airport to American.

The agreement will provide customers with interline service in non-overlapping markets, which will offer them more choices and convenient connections. The companies are also exploring other commercial cooperation.

The partnership will focus on routes into and out of JFK and Boston that extend and complement each others' networks. For example, it would provide seamless service for customers who wish to fly nonstop from Nantucket to JFK on JetBlue and from there to London on American. Likewise, customers can board American from Paris to JFK and connect to a nonstop flight on JetBlue to Burlington, Vt. JetBlue customers will be able to effortlessly connect on flights to 12 of American's international destinations from JFK and Boston including Barcelona, Spain; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan.

On domestic routes where the carriers don't currently compete, American customers can book convenient, nonstop JetBlue flights from JFK and Boston to 18 domestic markets, including Portland, Maine; Nantucket; and Burlington, Vt.

Customers of both airlines are expected to benefit from improved connections, while each airline will see additional customers fed into their networks. None of the routes on which the airlines will cooperate overlap current flights served by the other.

The agreement will provide connections for more passengers at JFK and Boston to American's international destinations in Europe, Asia, and South America. "This new agreement with JetBlue complements our domestic and international network. It will provide important opportunities to grow international traffic flowing into and out of the United States for both American and JetBlue," Gerard Arpey, Chairman and CEO of American Airlines, said. "That ultimately strengthens our operations, network, and customer feed at JFK and at Boston Logan."

"Our successful transition to Sabre, along with our new Terminal 5 at JFK and growing presence in Boston, have positioned us to take advantage of important partnership opportunities," said JetBlue's CEO Dave Barger. "This agreement with American extends our route network to new and existing customers and will enhance our relevance at both JFK and Boston."

Certain portions of the cooperative agreement may be subject to regulatory review.

Ummmm, ruh roh

Ha Ha.....

Things that make you go hmmmm..

AA:eek:

With Lufthansa owning a portion of JetBlue, these sort of things seem pretty interesting to me. We've got Lufty in Star Alliance owning a part of JetBlue who is doing deals with American in One World. Hmmm is right.

Hmm.

I have no dog in this fight, but aren't AMR pilots a bit concerned that this could lead to a slow drain of traditional AMR domestic flights being farmed over to non-unionized JetBlue?

JetBlue may pay their pilots pretty well, but I suspect their overall operating costs are substantially lower than AMR's across the board due to a young workforce (10 years, max) and non union labor in all departments.

Just speculating here. APC does can make one a bit paranoid, but really, that's half the fun, right?

Any bets that SWA will try and muscle their way into this agreemant too?

It is that thought exactly, that is spooking our guys. It is being discussed currently on our forum.

AA will try anything to circumvent our SCOPE clause. This appears to be a new way.. Watch out CAL pilots. I am sure Smisek is taking notes.

AA

Sure. I don't think so. I think SWA will gain more out of the DAL/US deal.

AA

I'm sure he is. But they cost too much! Have you seen our contract? :p

I think it's great. The first step to B6 being acquired and integrated into a major carrier. I've said all along... we are going to be a part consolidation or a victim of it.