A JetBlue flight taxis as a United plane takes off at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 3, 2025, in Los Angeles.

In this week’s airline news, Reuters reports that JetBlue Airways and United Airlines are close to some form of partnership that’s expected to at least include frequent flyer reciprocity; American Airlines said it ended talks with JetBlue about a new kind of deal and filed suit to recover money it says JetBlue owes it following the end of their Northeast Alliance; Southwest Airlines reveals more details about its new fare structure and the perks it plans to offer to its elite loyalty members and credit card holders; regional jet operator JSX plans to introduce intrastate flights from a Bay Area airport that currently has no commercial service; Delta Air Lines revives a San Jose route next week; changes in Latin America routes are coming from Delta, Aeromexico, Volaris and United; Alaska Airlines inks a frequent flyer partnership with an Asian carrier; airlines add more transatlantic flights as summer approaches and United reopens its Polaris lounge at Chicago O’Hare. 

Back in January, rumors were rampant that United was heading toward a deal with struggling JetBlue as that carrier looked for a new partnership following its failed Northeast Alliance (NEA) with American and its unsuccessful 2024 merger attempt with Spirit Airlines. At the time, United denied those rumors, but now they are back stronger than ever following a Reuters report this week that the two carriers have been quietly negotiating a partnership. Citing “three industry sources familiar with the matter,” Reuters said the United-JetBlue plan under discussion “is envisioned as quite different from the NEA … While the alliance is expected to focus on providing greater connectivity to customers and allowing them to earn and burn frequent-flyer miles, the two carriers will not coordinate on schedules and pricing.” The NEA with American ended in 2023 after the Justice Department challenged it on antitrust grounds and a federal judge agreed. Neither United nor JetBlue has publicly confirmed the Reuters report.

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A JetBlue Airways plane lands at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 7, 2025.

According to One Mile at a Time, JetBlue’s president, Marty St. George, said during a conference call on its quarterly results this week that the company is “talking to multiple airlines about domestic partnerships” and expects to make an announcement before the end of June. He added that JetBlue expects to offer a much greater opportunity to earn and redeem TrueBlue loyalty program points. With the airline’s system focused on the East Coast, he noted, customers who want to fly to “Omaha or Boise” can’t currently earn loyalty points — something the new partnership is expected to fix by providing “better opportunities for our customers to fly more places with more frequency.” 

American Airlines confirmed this week that it had also been in discussions with JetBlue about some kind of new arrangement to replace the NEA that might pass antitrust muster, but it said those talks had failed. “Although we proposed a very attractive proposition to JetBlue and its customers and team, it became clear over time that JetBlue........

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