American Airlines is partnering with smaller competitor JetBlue to create more connections in the Northeast while both airlines try to claw back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fort Worth-based American announced the codeshare and loyalty benefits with New York-based JetBlue on Thursday. American also said it will strengthen its international network out of New York’s JFK International Airport, adding flights to Athens and Tel Aviv and restarting flights to Rio de Janerio.
It’s the second such deal that American has made with smaller competitors. Earlier this year, it inked a deal with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines that gives American a stronger presence in the Northwest and resulted in a new route between Seattle and Bangalore. The Bangalore route has been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new deal with JetBlue comes as American prepares for a new reality as a smaller airline in the coming months. Airline passenger traffic is still less than 30% of historical norms and flying is expected to be down at least 30% in the fall.
On Wednesday, American said it is trying to shed 25,000 jobs by Oct. 1, when federal stimulus restrictions on layoffs expire. It’s offering early retirement and voluntary leave packages aimed at minimizing the number of workers it will need to layoff or furlough.
American’s partnership with JetBlue also gives American connections into New York for lucrative international routes, at least when those international routes return from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst with Atmosphere Research.
JetBlue has its strongest presence in New York and Boston, and American Airlines has been reducing its presence in New York in recent years, said Scott Mayerowitz, executive editorial director at travel industry website The Points Guy.
“The global pandemic has upended the airline industry and carriers are doing everything possible to find new ways to survive — including teaming up with once-unlikely partners,” Mayerowitz said. “American Airlines has been pulling back on New York flights for years. This partnership will allow it to become a more-powerful player in the country’s economic center.”
Right now, the partnership just impacts those flights out of New York and Boston and should have little impact on travelers in other parts of the country such as Dallas, said Brian Znotins, American’s vice president of network and planning. The company would need government approval before changing its domestic flight schedule based on the partnership.
“I think it gives us more opportunities for growth and you can see that with routes to places such as Tel Aviv and Athens,” Znotins said in an interview. “We traditionally had to choose between Philadelphia and JFK with JFK getting more connectivity and Philadelphia getting international flights.”
At this time, JetBlue also isn’t joining the Oneworld global alliance headed by American Airlines.
It’s true that a partnership like this might not have seemed likely in better economic times. But all carriers are flying fewer routes and lighter schedules than in recent years.
This is the second time that American and JetBlue have partnered. The two airlines had a similar partnership that officially ended in 2014.
“This is an incredible opportunity for both of our airlines,” American Airlines president Robert Isom said in a statement. “American has a strong history in the Northeast, and we’re proud to partner with JetBlue as the latest chapter in that long history.”
The deal will allow American Airlines and JetBlue to connect customers on one another’s airlines and book those flights through their own sales portals.
JetBlue has had to cut back, too, during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been trying to get its 22,000 employees to take buyout and leave packages, along with contract concessions to avoid layoffs.
“Pairing JetBlue’s domestic network with American’s international route map creates a new competitive choice in the Northeast, where customers are longing for an alternative to the dominant network carriers,” Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
“This partnership with American is the next step in our plan to accelerate our coronavirus recovery, get our crew members and our aircraft flying again, and fuel JetBlue’s growth into the future,” Geraghty said.
