jetblue

Tag Archives for jetblue.

American Airlines To Appeal Antitrust Ruling Breaking Up Partnership With JetBlue

by Gary Leff on May 31, 2023

May 31 2023

The judge’s decision, rather than considering whether consumers would benefit overall, looked at individual markets and saw fare increases – when fares were rising everywhere due to inflation, supply chain issues and strong demand. The judge discounted expert witnesses for the airlines because they were working with airline data while giving weight to government experts. And the judge argued that the combination was per se illegal, since it reduced competitors, rather than looking at its effects to see more actual competition.

How Airlines Collude To Raise Prices, Right In Front Of Regulators

by Gary Leff on May 24, 2023

May 24 2023

The Department of Justice successfully sued in District Court to block American Airlines and JetBlue from continuing to cooperate in their ‘Northeast Alliance’ where they divvied up which carrier flew to which city, and shared revenue.

The judge’s decision cites some pretty interesting coordination over pricing that happens in the airline industry prior to and outside of this alliance. Competitors talking about pricing, and in particular how to raise prices, is forbidden, and yet they seem to do it in plain sight without actually saying “let’s do the crime” so that they can get away with it.

A Federal Judge Didn’t Kill The American Airlines-JetBlue Partnershp, But JetBlue Might

by Gary Leff on May 22, 2023

May 22 2023

On Friday a federal judge rules that the American Airlines-JetBlue partnership violates anti-trust laws, since they go beyond frequent flyer reciprocity and divvy up which airline flies to a given destination and share revenue.

Most of the coverage of the ruling says that the partnership is over as a result of the judge’s ruling. As a matter of law that’s wrong – there’s plenty of avenue to appeal and drag this out for a long time. But maybe what kills the deal will be JetBlue?

Did Qatar Airways Force JetBlue To Terminate Its Codeshare With Emirates?

by Gary Leff on May 21, 2023

May 21 2023

JetBlue had to go lease slots at London Heathrow from Qatar Airways. And they didn’t just pay cash, apparently. They also had to terminate an airline partnership to satisfy Qatar.

Juicy Details From The Judge’s Decision To Break Up The American-JetBlue Partnership

by Gary Leff on May 20, 2023

May 20 2023

A federal court sided with the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice, ruling that the American Airlines-JetBlue partnership should be broken up on anti-trust grounds. It’s an odd conclusion, but the ruling itself is fascinating reading. It contains great details about how the deal evolved between the two airlines.

Exclusive: Flight Diverts When Passenger Drinks His Own Hennessy, Chokes His Wife

by Gary Leff on May 15, 2023

May 15 2023

Saturday night’s JetBlue flight 2404 from San Juan to New York JFK diverted to Richmond after a passenger, who brought their own alcohol on board, got into an altercation with their wife.

A passenger on board the aircraft shared with View From The Wing that the man had brought on a bottle of Hennessy, was visibly intoxicated, and had “choked out his wife.”

Man Misses Flight In Las Vegas, Calls In Bomb Threat

by Gary Leff on May 5, 2023

May 05 2023

Thursday afternoon JetBlue flight 879 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles was held on the tarmac on arrival and passengers then evacuated because a passenger angry about missing the flight called in a bomb threat.

[LAUNCHES MAY 10] JetBlue Introducing New 4-Level Elite Program, Plus Start Earning Benefits Before Achieving Status

by Gary Leff on April 17, 2023

Apr 17 2023

I love the choice benefits. I love that more activity than just flying counts towards status. And they’ve simplified elites receiving confirmed extra legroom seats. They’re finally introducing meaningful elite upgrades as well. Since benefits aren’t really based on waitlist or status priority, though, higher tiers seem a bit thin to me. 15,000 bonus points as a choice benefit at each level helps a little bit, but I’d like to see higher bonus point amounts at higher tiers.

Still, the path to Mosaic 1 is rich enough that I’m not bothered by requiring $50,000 in credit card spend to get there (and it’s about right at $5000 in travel spend). At the same time I don’t love the revenue-based rather than trip-based nature of the new program for those who do earn status by flying. I think they get plaudits for trying something interesting, even if they’re not first down this path. And they’re offering richer benefits than they ever have before.

Delta Will Fly To London Gatwick Airport To Stick It To JetBlue And Norse Atlantic

by Gary Leff on April 12, 2023

Apr 12 2023

Before the pandemic, when Norwegian was operating the route, Delta planned to fly to Gatwick using a Boeing 757 without Delta Suites. It was totally obvious what they were doing, with a product well-matched to Norwegian’s.

This was supposed to start in May 2020, but didn’t happen because of the pandemic – and because Norwegian ceased its transatlantic flying. Now that JetBlue offers a real business class on the route, Delta has upgraded to a Boeing 767.

The End Of The Rule Of Law, In Financial Markets And The Airline Industry

by Gary Leff on March 26, 2023

Mar 26 2023

The Department of Transportation entered into an agreement to approve the “Northeast Alliance” between American Airlines and JetBlue, indeed wrung concessions out of the two airlines before doing so (giving up takeoff and landing slots in New York, and a commitment to expand supply of seats in the market with larger aircraft under penalty of losing even more slots to other airlines).

Then, after the alliance moved forward, the Department of Justice Continue Reading »