A federal judge ordered last Friday that the partnership between American Airlines and JetBlue Airlines must be terminated within a maximum period of 30 days.
The decision, which coincides with the US Department of Justice, follows a lawsuit by six States in 2021 to terminate the partnership announced in 2020, since, according to the plaintiffs, it has eliminated incentives for competition as well as what could mean higher prices for consumers.
“The company substantially diminishes competition in the domestic air market,” said ruling US District Judge Leo Sorokin. “These two powerful vehicles act as one entity in the East, placing markets between them and replacing competition with great cooperation,” he added.
In this way, the administration of President Joe Biden celebrates the decision of the judge, since from the beginning the president commented on the rejection of the company called “Northern Company”.
On the back of this, JetBlue shares fell 1.8% at the end of last week, while American closed up 1.5%.
On their part, the team announced that they are following in the footsteps of the losers in the evaluation process. American Airlines reported that “The court’s legal analysis was clearly false and unprecedented for a joint venture (…) the company was a big success with customers and not anti-competitive.” It should be noted that American is now the largest airline in the US, while JetBlue is ranked sixth in the country. In this context, the “Northern Company” proceeded with a series of agreements between the companies consolidating their presence in Boston and New York.
Social communicator and journalist with a postgraduate degree in politics from the University of Bogotá by Sergio Arboleda. With more than seven years holding different positions in the airline industry, he is an expert in commercial and private aviation. Also, there is a lot of interest in the development of sustainability issues and the use of new environmentally friendly technologies in the aviation sector. Favorite Aircraft: MD XI Transporter
