JetBlue could be weeks away from announcing a significant new partnership with a major US carrier, and now the aviation industry is in a whirl as experts try to work out which carrier JetBlue’s president could be talking about.. what we do, however, is that American, Alaska, and Delta have ruled themselves out.
The hot money is on JetBlue announcing some sort of tie-up with United, although Southwest Airlines is also now being mooted as a possible contender in forming a partnership with the New York-based carrier.
During an earnings call on Tuesday, JetBlue president Marty St. George said that he expected an announcement to be made this quarter and that any deal would allow flyers to earn JetBlue frequent flyer miles known as TrueBlue points on partner flights.
“If you are a customer in the Northeast and you love JetBlue for leisure, but twice a year you have to go to Omaha or Boise, these are places that you can’t earn TrueBlue points on now and when this partnership goes forward, you will be able to,” St. George said during the call.
When it comes to flights to both of these destinations, you have to consider the possibility of either United or Southwest.
Of course, St. George wasn’t willing to give anything else away, but that hasn’t stopped industry observers from speculating on what airline or airlines he was talking about.
Several airlines have, though, tried to quash any speculation that they might be involved in talks with JetBlue.
Alaska Airlines responded to St. George’s comments by saying it was focused on its merger with Hawaiian Airlines, while Delta said there was no pending announcement about a potential new partnership with another airline.
Meanwhile, American Airlines said on Monday that partnership talks with JetBlue had broken down without a deal – the airline now plans to take JetBlue to court in an attempt to recover costs involved in its failed northeast alliance with JetBlue.
Despite only recently filing an SEC 8-K saying it wasn’t in “negotiations or discussions with any other airline regarding a merger, acquisition or similar strategic transaction,” United is a frontrunner as a potential partner with JetBlue.
Just weeks after that SEC filing, United chief executive Scott Kirby said that airline consolidation was on the cards and that JetBlue was the “obvious candidate.” On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the carrier simply said that the airline doesn’t “engage in industry speculation.”
JetBlue’s Chief Executive Joanna Geraghty noted, however, that the carrier was in talks with multiple airlines, which raises the possibility that JetBlue could ultimately strike a deal with Southwest.
Whatever happens next, JetBlue will be keen to avoid the kind of regulatory hurdles it faced with its partnership with American Airlines and then its blocked takeover of Spirit Airlines.
JetBlue might hope that the Department of Justice under President Trump is more accommodating of a big aviation partnership than the Biden administration, which sought to block anything it viewed as bad for consumers.
Of course, when it comes to President Trump, there’s really no knowing what position he might end up taking.
