JetBlue Airways is exploring tie-ups with several US carriers, and potentially the revival of its defunct the Northeast Alliance (NEA) with American Airlines.
Speaking during the Barclays Industrial Select Conference on 19 February, JetBlue president Marty St George confirmed that “we’re talking to multiple airlines”, reiterating chief executive Joanna Geraghty’s comments in late January.
“We’re still talking,” he says. ”If we find a deal that is accretive, we will absolutely do it. I certainly do think a partnership would be good for JetBlue.”
St George maintains that JetBlue and American’s NEA “never fully played out” before being struck down by a federal judge on antitrust grounds in May 2023.
”If you read the ruling – which we’ve read in excruciating detail many, many times – he basically laid out a roadmap of ’Here’s what a partnership could look like.’
“Frankly, when I look at the benefits that we got from the partnership we had, I think that’s something that’s attractive to us.”
Notably, there is still an avenue available for JetBlue and American to revive the NEA. In a recent 10K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, American notes that it could escalate its appeal of the NEA’s dissolution to the US Supreme Court.
But the deadline to do so is looming.
“Any petition for writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court would be due 27 February,” the airline says.
Industry watchers have speculated that JetBlue could be exploring deals with American, Alaska Airlines and even Southwest Airlines. Southwest maintains an all-Boeing 737 fleet and has long touted the simplicity of its single aircraft type; an acquisition of JetBlue’s primarily Airbus fleet would be a major operational and strategic departure.
Speaking at the same conference, Frontier Airlines chief executive Barry Biffle said a new US administration has created an open season for airline tie-ups.
“I think the industry is ripe” for mergers and acquisitions, Biffle says, pointing specifically to JetBlue as a likely target.
”Everybody’s talking about JetBlue this week,” he says. ”I think everybody other than maybe Delta and United could buy JetBlue, right? I think Southwest could get away with it. American could get away with it.”
Frontier’s repeated attempts to acquire rival ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines have been rebuffed, prompting Biffle to quip that “we wish them luck” as Spirit emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
