I don't think so. I guess one of us is right and we'll find out eventually. ;)

LH has more lift into JFK than they do into EWR. And they also have lift into BOS and MCO where B6 picks up feed from them. It isn't all about NYC and even when it is, JFK is still king.

LH was always looking for value from the investments; having B6 join OW isn't nearly as valuable as having them be the AS of the east, IMO.

Well, I'm guessing you would have doubted the possibility of a partnership until AA/B6 announced it.

I'd have doubted the likelihood but not the possibility.

JetBlue can either become the AS of the east or go a more traditional route. AS seems to be doing quite well and is much more consistent than the others so I'm not so sure that's a bad play. I'm halfway through a blog post looking at all the numbers comparing the two carriers; they are surprisingly similar in many categories.

AS' code-whoring isn't the "end all be all" of airline strategies. AS is highly dependent on the codeshare revenue that comes from sleeping with everyone. If you removed that revenue, AS would probably have some issues with AA, UA, WN and DL crawling all over their routes. Their last defense would be all the monopoly routes ex-SEA, and intra-AK.

Notice how AS has pulled back over the past year?

The code-whoring strategy only works if other players in the market are willing to curb their desire to fly their own metal and pour traffic into your network. How long do you think AS would last if AA and DL both decided to make SEA a hub?

With Delta's obsession about market share in JFK, I'm confident that the B6 execs realized that going it alone will prove costly. Better to turn AA/OW into an ally than to compete against both AA and DL.

LH and Star alliance provide little assistance in what is essentially a domestic turf war.

The AA agreement is no different than the existing agreement with LH or EI. The "assistance" is only on international connections and only on routes where AA does not fly non-stop from JFK or BOS and B6 does.

Should AA or DL try to hub SEA AS would fight back and they'd probably do OK at it, though it would really depend on the number of planes that the other carrier deployed there. AS doesn't have a lot of spare capacity to fight back in the usual ways - frequencies and fares - but the other carriers also don't have a ton of cash lying around to make such an attack.

Also, given the slot controls - never mind gate capacity - at JFK versus SEA it isn't like DL can just decide to add 25 or even just 5 new flights there.

So other than the potential for B6 to join OW what's the difference right now? And how is that different from the potential for B6 to join *A?

DCA-LGB would be awesome...as would DCA-OAK.

however, I strongly doubt that'll happen.

if i can fly aa codeshares on jetblue metal, i'd go on a mileage run right now to keep my AA gold status!

I tolerate AA's domestic service enough so I can earn miles to redeem on their intl premium products.

For now they aren't going to be codeshares and the cooperation is only planned to be in conjunction with international long-hauls on AA right now. Other than that, have fun. ;)

I didnt see this anywhere else.

It looks like BA is interested in B6 as well.

Oneworld Eyeing JetBlue Links

"Arpey said some other alliance CEOs had expressed their desire to speak to JetBlue."

I'm not holding my breath for the OW invite based on that. ;)

Wasn't impying OW membership, but rather more partnerships.

You're gonna have to eat so much crow pie if any OW - B6 announcements come in the future. :p

There is significant benefit to OW from an alliance-wide link with B6. Look at B6's major markets:

JFK -- the premier East Coast gateway; almost every OW airline is here
BOS -- BA & IB serve BOS, and would benefit from B6 feed
IAD -- connections to big leisure destinations CUN, FLL & MCO
MCO -- served by BA & MX
SFO -- incremental additional feed for JL & CX to NRT/HKG (esp. to AUS?)

More importantly, in the Northeast, B6 feeding AA/OW at JFK would be at the expense of US feeding *A and DL's feed for itself/ST.

Maybe this is a sign that OW is finally getting serious about acting for each others' benefit?

I don't see this as anything where OW is special compared to the other two alliances.


Ditto for *A and ST.
This may be the only city where OW has more than the others. That being said, KL and AF have flights into BOS. So does LH.
Connections from who? The BA flight?
And many other carriers, like LH. Plus, the MX feed into MCO seems less useful to me than the BA for onwards connections. What options does B6 offer via MCO that AA doesn't via DFW and MIA or that MX doesn't have natively?
B6 has barely any lift in SFO. I cannot see the AUS-SFO feed as justifying an alliance.

US has barely any feed at JFK. UA has a bit. *A is mostly O/D there and that is why LH - which also has decent lift in JFK - got the codeshare/interline agreement in place with B6. Just like the one AA just signed.

The thread title still says codeshare.

It's pretty certain now that it's a ticketing agreement; no codeshare benefits, nor any on the horizon, right?

We don't know what's on the horizon, but we can't rule it out.