American Airlines asks US Supreme Court to reverse ruling prohibiting JetBlue partnership

American Airlines has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court decision, which found that its airline alliance with JetBlue violated federal antitrust law.

The now scrapped Northeast Alliance (NEA) was a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines, sought to enhance competition against carriers such as Delta and United, at airports in the Northeast region of the US by pooling schedules and revenues. The NEA formally ended in July 2023, following attempts by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to shut down the alliance. The DOJ argued the alliance was anti-competitive. 

In November 2024, a US appeals court upheld the ruling which rejected American Airlines’ attempt to reinstate the alliance.

American Airlines argued that the airline alliance would increase market wide competition among all airlines in the Northeast region of the US without any price increases, solely because it reduced competition between the two joint venture partners.

Now in this new petition to the Supreme Court, American Airlines states that the lower court’s ruling could set a damaging precedent for industry collaborations, restricting partnerships that increase market-wide competition without raising consumer prices.

The airline said that the Court of Appeals’ decision conflicts with established antitrust principles and creates circuit splits, which could harm productive collaborations. 

American Airlines is now seeking a review to ensure that only agreements harmful to consumers are prohibited under the Sherman Antitrust Act, a law the US Congress passed to prohibit trusts, monopolies, and cartels in 1890.

The airline maintains that the NEA was designed to expand customer options and enhance competition rather than stifle it.