United Airlines has a new friend in Queens.
The airline plans to return to John F. Kennedy in New York’s international airport again, this time thanks to a new partnership with JetBlue Airways.
The partnership, called Blue Sky, will allow airlines to sell seats on the other's sites and let JetBlue customers win miles of frequent travelers in United and vice versa. It also includes advantages of reciprocal loyalty such as priority boarding and more spacious seats for travelers with elite status. The agreement is subject to a regulatory examination, the airlines said.
Certain aspects of the partnership, which the carriers announced Thursday, will start in the fall, although the airlines have not provided an exact calendar. They also did not provide financial details of the agreement.
Jetblue leaders have long said they needed a partnership to better compete with large airlines like United and their shared rival Delta Air Lines, the most profitable American carrier.
United CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC's “Squawk Box” on Thursday than JFK access, airlines will have the largest presence in Boston and that United will be able to extend its scope in Florida and the Caribbean, where JetBlue has a robust network. In turn, the Loyalists JetBlue will have access to the destinations of the distribution of the United Globe.
“It makes each airline more competitive,” said Kirby.
The new partnership does not stop at the coordination of the flights that JetBlue had in its former alliance in the Northeast with American airlineswhich was canceled by a federal court for antitrust reasons two years ago. Last year, a judge blocked the Jetblue plan to buy a budgetary operator in difficulty Spirit.
“This collaboration with United is a daring step for the industry – one that brings together two
Airlines focused on the customer to offer more choices for travelers and value in our networks, “said Joanna Geraghty, CEO of JeanBlue, in a press release.
United left JFK in 2015, and Kirby called this error because the trip of transcontinental flights to Newark, New Jersey, allowed American to win certain business customers. He returned briefly in 2021, thanks to an accustomed from the era to traffic traffic at the airport, where the capacity is normally closely controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration.
United left JFK again in 2022 because it could not secure the longer term locations.
Kirby has repeatedly said that he wanted the airline to return to JFK. The carrier has experienced difficulties in recent weeks with the shortages of air traffic staff and congestion in his Newark Hub.
Under the new agreement, United will be able to fly up to seven daily round trips at Kennedy Congestionné airport, which gives it more extent in the New York region, although the new operation is still overshadowed by the main center of United in the Newark Liberty International Airport region.
United JFK flights will start in 2027 at the earliest, the carriers said. JetBlue, meanwhile, will get eight flights in Newark. United did not say what roads he planned to operate at JFK, although his last foray is for the service in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
They described the exchange of “neutral exchange of the net”.