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Yesterday, I wrote about United Airlines and JetBlue entering a partnership that would be unlike the Northeast Alliance that American Airlines had with JetBlue, but would offer coordinated schedules as well as mileage earning and redemptions. This seemed a bit meh and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It seems it has as the latest news around this partnership sees JetBlue ceding two gates at New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) so that United may return and run up to 20 daily departures at the slot-controlled NYC airport that United departed in 2015 (I’m not counting the brief return in 2022).
@IshrionA shared the news that this will be a three-stage process. With United finding a path back to New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) as the big prize. Both United and JetBlue are being quiet around what details are finalized, but this speculation seems like it has merit.
Stage 1: Basic Partnership
This is in line with what Reuters reported with coordinated schedules, mileage earning and redemptions across airlines, and potentially some other benefits.
Stage 2: Strategic Partnership
No details have been released around what this could be like, but I’d guess codeshares, elite status matches, reciprocal upgrades, possible revenue sharing, further coordinated schedules, and more. Maybe JetBlue could join Star Alliance. Continental Airlines left SkyTeam and joined Star Alliance before it fully merged with United Airlines. It’s happened before and could happen again.
Stage 3: Merger
As I have written about before, this gets United back into New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), allows it to create a Florida hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) (which it has been rumored to want a place in Florida to take on American with its nearby Miami International Airport (MIA) hub), and beefs up its presence enough in Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to take on Delta Air Lines there.
United doesn’t have many, if any, other options to get gates at New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK). JetBlue has plenty there and would give United a true New York presence again. Sure, United markets Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) as New York, but it’s New Jersey even if it is easier to get to some parts of New York City from there than JFK.
The new administration will likely be more open to mergers, but would there be anti-trust concerns even under a Trump Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Justice (DOJ)? If this were to happen (again a big if), this would be a huge coup for United Airlines. The carrier did donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and its CEO seems to have a positive outlook around his tariffs. Will this be enough to grant it a favor this huge?
Anthony’s Take: I find the prospect of a JetBlue/United tie up exciting. United wants back into JFK and if things get as far as a merger, it would make United the most dominant airline in the United States eclipsing both American and Delta (United already is outpacing both on some metrics). None of the pieces of this partnership have been confirmed and this is all speculation around what could be. We know that something is coming in the next few weeks and I’ll be watching this one closely.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
