American Airlines is appealing against a judgement that ended its attempted alliance with JetBlue, the Northeast Alliance (NEA), last year. It made the argument that the lower court’s ruling infringes on the airlines’ ability to form strategic alliances with other airlines. American said that if the decision was overruled, it would “seriously consider” another alliance with JetBlue, according to Reuters.
American's lawyer argued that the dissolving of the partnership was based on a ""legal misunderstanding of how antitrust laws operate"".
American also argued that the NEA was ""beneficial to consumers"" and not anticompetitive as it ""increased the supply of seats in the New York/Boston market which would lead to lower prices and created a third viable competitor in the market"".
However, the US justice department argued the alliance decreased capacity, reduced consumer choice and resulted in lower flight frequencies between Boston and New York. It added that the NEA was suppressing rather than enhancing competition.
American Airlines would ""seriously consider"" another alliance with JetBlue if it wins appeal
