jetBlue and AA [interline]/DCA slots obtained
 

JetBlue and American to announce Codeshare

Now I haven't heard a peep out of the company about this one. Is it that we are looking to feed American at JFK from our major domestic operations there and their international operations to team up against Delta? I don't see what LH could say as, yes they are a large shareholder but we are still an independant company free to seek oppurtunities to make money.

I would say that it would make sense. B6's costs are less than those at AA and so more flying could be transferred by AA to B6 for connections while AA can concentrate on their strengths in Latin America, London, and transcon premium travel. LH is an investor in B6 and so whatever brings in more profits for B6 is good for LH. AS codeshares with carriers in competing alliances and has done quite well for themselves lately. It would help both carriers to get a leg up on DL in the battle over NYC. B6 would also gave slots at DCA which they have sought for a long time.

jetBlue and AA codeshare/DCA slots obtained
 

It is official:

AA and B6 will soon begin codesharing on non-competing flights out of JFK and BOS. AA gets 12 slots at JFK from B6 in exchange for 8 slots at DCA and an additional slot at HPN. Looks like a good deal for both airlines.


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JetBlue Agreement

American Airlines and JetBlue Airways today announced an agreement for commercial collaboration in New York and Boston that benefits customers of both airlines. The agreement will provide customers with interline service in non-overlapping markets, which will offer them more choices and convenient connections. The companies are also exploring other commercial cooperation.

The partnership will focus on routes into and out of JFK and Boston Logan International Airport that extend and complement each others' networks. For example, it would provide seamless service for customers who wish to fly nonstop from Nantucket to JFK on JetBlue and from there to London on American. Likewise, customers can board American from Paris to JFK and connect to a nonstop flight on JetBlue to Burlington, Vt. JetBlue customers will be able to effortlessly connect on flights to 12 of American's international destinations from JFK and Boston including Barcelona, Spain; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan.

On domestic routes where the carriers don't currently compete, American customers can book convenient, nonstop JetBlue flights from JFK and Boston to 18 domestic markets, including Portland, Maine; Nantucket, Mass.; and Burlington, Vt.

Under terms of the agreement, American intends to transfer eight slot pairs at Ronald Reagan National Airport and one slot pair at White Plains, N.Y. to JetBlue, and JetBlue intends to transfer 12 slot pairs at JFK to American.

Customers of both airlines are expected to benefit from improved connections, while each airline will see additional customers fed into their networks. None of the routes on which the airlines will cooperate overlap current flights served by the other. The agreement will provide connections for more passengers at JFK and Boston to American's international destinations in Europe, Asia, and South America. It also will generate more traffic and support for American's planned joint business with oneworld partners British Airways and Iberia between North America and Europe, and with Japan Airlines between North America and Asia.

"This new agreement with JetBlue complements our domestic and international network and will bolster our partnerships with other oneworld members. It will provide important opportunities to grow international traffic flowing into and out of the United States for American," Arpey said. "That ultimately strengthens our operations, network, and customer feed at JFK and at Boston Logan. And, while we bolster American's own network, in turn we will help solidify oneworld as the premier global alliance with the finest airline brands and networks worldwide."

Certain portions of the cooperative agreement may be subject to regulatory review.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Americ....html?x=0&.v=1

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/JetBlu....html?x=0&.v=1

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Americ....html?x=0&.v=1

Definitely was not expecting this. I suppose it makes sense for AA--their international traffic at JFK is almost entirely O/D, and this gives them a stronger opportunity for connecting traffic domestically. And JB gets slots at DCA, which they've wanted for basically forever.

What type of regulatory review is required?

Last night I started gathering detaiked regarding a AA-B6s code-share (which is actually an interline) and JetBlue picking up slots at DCA Once I confirmed the information I started to put it out on Twitter around 11:00pm (@flyingwithfish).

As of this morning ... I have 31 e-mails on my Blackberry telling me I'm an idiot, this is never going to happen and/or that I've been taken for an early April Foos ride ... well it official, and confirmed, info I fed to NYC Aviation's site is correct.

If you've been sending me the e-mails, please stop.

So it's not a codeshare but an interline. Does this mean our agents will have the ability to rebook on AA in the event of foul weather? :D

So what's this mean since it's only an interline, and not a codeshare? You can simply book a B6 and an AA ticket on one record?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. I suspect that this is the initial "phase" of the partnership that they just slapped together to make an announcement.

If service to DCA does not start until late fall then there is still plenty of time to work out the logistics of a codeshare. Given the pending US/DL deal, B6/AA are obviously acting quickly to get something out there. By November, B6 should be fully into using SABRE and have a year of the new True Blue program behind them which enables them to work on developing more complicated relationships with other carriers both foreign and domestic.

For me, this will be exciting if...

1. I can earn AA miles on B6 flights to where AA does not fly to (thereby finally freeing myself from B6's TB program which I find not particularly useful, customer friendly and time consuming (to constantly chase down missing points)).

2. There is access to EML seats for AA elites (since B6 TB doesn't have elite status levels they may not wish to provide such).

3. There is priority access through security, such as at JFK T5.

For now, I'd settle for item 1.

So, now we have 5 slot pairs from DL and another 8 from AA. That gives a lot of flexability there for a decent scedule to 3 or 4 destinations.

Haha. You might see that come up tomorrow, but B6 would be foolish to do that.

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Official ceremony was today. Saw the pics on facebook.

Anyone want to speculate on the DCA destinations? Local minds want to know!

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Aa.com/nyc has further info from the aa perspective.