Proposed ‘Blue Sky’ Allows Dual Booking, Mutual Points Usage

Spirit Airlines is urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to reject a proposed partnership between United Airlines and jetBlue, claiming it is anticompetitive and could prompt other larger carriers to court similar deals.

In May, United and jetBlue said their “Blue Sky” partnership would enable passengers to book flights on both carriers’ websites and also earn and use frequent flyer points in each other’s programs.

The deal also provides for jetBlue to permit United access to slots at JFK International Airport in New York for as many as seven daily round-trip flights beginning in 2027.

In addition, jetBlue and United will exchange eight flight timings at Newark, NewJersey, and United will move some services to jetBlue’s Paisley booking platform. Such services include holiday, travel, and trip amenities such as car rentals, hotels, and more.

Spirit claims the deal means that jetBlue would “become a de facto vassal of United.”

While United declined to comment, jetBlue said the deal "does not include schedule coordination or revenue sharing. JetBlue and United will remain competitors as they each will continue to publish, price, and market flights independently under their own brand and flight numbers."

Spirit also said, "This anti-competitive tie-up involving a dominant legacy carrier will neutralize the competitive benefit of an existing low-fare competitor.”

The airline contends that if approved, American and Delta “will almost certainly seek similar arrangements and smaller carriers may feel compelled to go along, creating an even more highly concentrated industry."

Financially-challenged JetBlue has been seeking a partnership ever since a federal judge blocked its Northeast Alliance with American Airlines in 2023. And a $3.4 billion merger between jetBlue and Spirit was blocked by a U.S. judge on anti-competition concerns in 2024.

FMI:  www.spirit.com/