- American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are moving forward with a partnership in the Northeast United States.
- The two will coordinate better in the region and add up to a total of 33 domestic and international routes.
- Elite status holders will also be able to earn and redeem miles on each airline.
- Visit the Business section of the Insider for more stories.
American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are joining forces in the Northeast as part of an alliance that creates new routes, schedules, frequent flyer programs and more.
The pair is moving forward with the first phase of an “alliance in the Northeast” after a regulatory review by the Department of Transportation that ended in January. JetBlue and American flight codes will be placed on more than 70 flights between the two airlines under a codeshare agreement, allowing customers to book certain flights on any airline or website.
“Our alliance with American opens the door for JetBlue to successfully enter new markets, presenting more options and our award-winning service and low rates to more customers,” said Scott Laurence, head of revenue and planning at JetBlue.
American has joined forces with coastal airlines such as JetBlue on the East Coast and Alaska Airlines on the West Coast to fill gaps in its route network. Both American and JetBlue will add 33 new combined routes to domestic and international destinations as travel slowly recovers with the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine and increasing testing for options to enter foreign countries.
This is where travelers will see the biggest differences.
New routes in the Northeast
JetBlue is adding 15 new routes from three major New York area airports, John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia. American, meanwhile, will add 18 new routes from Kennedy International and LaGuardia, in addition to the JetBlue stronghold at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
From Kennedy International, two new JetBlue routes will be added to Boise, Idaho and Kalispell, Montana, in July. Both are located in Mountain West, a region that has been growing in popularity during the pandemic, as Americans seek social detachment in nature.
In America, new Kennedy routes to the Colombian cities of Cali, Bogotá and Medellín; Santiago, Chile; Saint Lucia; and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos will start in May and June. The previously announced routes from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel, Athens, Greece and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will also be launched this year.
American will also give New York City its first nonstop connection to Orange County, California, as the airline is adding a new Kennedy route starting July 2. The daily flight will be operated by American’s ultra-premium Airbus A321 aircraft with first class, business class and economy class seats.
Newark will see 10 new routes to existing JetBlue leisure destinations in Antigua; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Cartagena, Colombia; Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; Nantucket, Massachusetts; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; Seattle; Saint Lucia; and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The new routes start on July 1st.
LaGuardia will receive more routes along the east and west coast. JetBlue flights to Charleston, South Carolina; Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; and Denver will also begin on July 1, while American will launch and resume summer flights to Key West, Florida; Pensacola, Florida; Rapid City, South Dakota; Kansas City, Missouri; and Savannah, Georgia, in June.
And from Boston, American will also fly to Asheville, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Traverse City, Michigan; and Wilmington, North Carolina, this summer.
Best times and most first class
The two airlines are coordinating schedules in important markets so that passengers have more options when flying. American will notice the difference in six segments, in particular, including Boston-South Florida, Boston-Washington, New York-Washington, New York-Boston, New York-South Florida and New York-California.
JetBlue brochures will notice the difference in the Boston-Los Angeles, Boston-Chicago, New York-San Francisco, New York-Atlanta, New York-Dallas, New York-Chicago and New York-Raleigh, North Carolina segments.
On the popular New York-Los Angeles route, for example, airlines offer a total of 14 daily flights. Both American and JetBlue operate the route with Airbus A321 aircraft with business class cabins.
American also plans to offer first class on all flights originating in New York, as it retires smaller regional jets, such as the Embraer ERJ145. JetBlue currently offers business class on selected routes to popular destinations.
Loyalty has its advantages
Frequent flyers on both airlines will also benefit, as they will be able to earn miles when flying either route starting this spring. Both airlines will allow customers to use points and miles to book award tickets on each other’s flights, but this functionality will come “over time”.
A JetBlue loyalist may be able to book an award ticket from New York to Tel Aviv on American, as Israel is currently well beyond JetBlue’s scope of service.
Elite status holders can also receive reciprocal benefits when traveling on both, but specific details, including whether this includes free first-class upgrades, have not yet been announced.
JetBlue elites do not currently receive upgrades in the airline’s elegant Mint business-class cabin, while American offers its status holders free upgrades on select flights. Upgrades are a key advantage of frequent flights that keep customers loyal to a particular airline, as a single upgrade can be worth hundreds of dollars and yield free meals, early boarding opportunities and even free lounge access.
Best single itinerary options
The codeshare agreement opens the door to booking a single itinerary for connecting flights, simplifying the travel experience for those unable to reach their final destination with American or JetBlue alone.
A JetBlue passenger in Buffalo, for example, could book a single trip from New York to Athens, Greece on a combination of JetBlue and American flights on a single itinerary.
The move also eliminates the need for self-connections between the two airlines, where passengers book two separate tickets. Although it is a widely used practice, it can have disadvantages if one of the flights is canceled or delayed.
Flights can now be booked under the codeshare agreement that begins on February 25th.