United Airlines is teaming up with JetBlue in a new alliance called Blue Sky, allowing passengers to use their air miles interchangeably across both airlines.
As early as this fall, JetBlue TrueBlue members will be able to earn and redeem points on most United flights, and United MileagePlus members can do the same on JetBlue flights. United Premier elite members and JetBlue’s Mosaic members will also enjoy reciprocal benefits such as priority check-in and complimentary checked bags.
“This partnership will be a win for United Airlines and JetBlue credit card customers who can now leverage their rewards across airlines,” said Ben Danner, Senior Analyst of Credit and Commercial at Javelin Strategy & Research. “This merging of loyalty programs will enable more customers to generate rewards and will encourage more flying between the airlines.”
Both airlines have a strong footprint in the New York City area: Newark Liberty International Airport serves as a major hub for United, while Queens-based JFK International Airport has long been JetBlue’s home base. The alliance offers more options to travelers in the tri-state area when booking their flights.
“One of the historic problems with attracting card customers to a co-branded airline card was the primary airport the customer uses,” Danner said. “If I lived in Boston, for example, I’d want a card that caters to airlines flying out of Boston Logan Airport.”
Prospects for Expansion
More importantly, one of the side agreements to the alliance is that JetBlue will provide United access to slots for up to seven daily roundtrip flights out of JFK. United, which has not had a long-term presence at JFK since 2015, sees that as a significant step in beefing up its international capabilities.
The JFK expansion appears to be the key incentive for the much larger United to partner with the financially shaky JetBlue. Some industry observers view this as a potential first step toward United eventually acquiring the smaller airline.
A Thwarted Alliance with American
The new partnership comes nearly two years after a federal judge effectively ended JetBlue’s similar Northeast Alliance with American Airlines. In that arrangement, American and JetBlue coordinated schedules and shared valuable gate space in New York, while also extending benefits from American Airlines AAdvantage and JetBlue TrueBlue to members of each airline’s loyalty program.
That partnership was scuttled following a prolonged legal battle with the Biden administration, which argued that the alliance was anti-competitive. However, with a new administration in place, United and JetBlue may now find a more favorable legal environment for their own collaboration.
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