United Airlines and JetBlue have gotten Department of Transportation OK for their Blue Sky alliance to take off, allowing the airlines to sell each other’s flights, match each other’s loyalty program statuses and give passengers the ability to ‘earn and burn’ either currency on flights.
The DOT approval was surprisingly swift; the two airlines announced the plan just under two months ago. Unlike JetBlue’s previous Northeast Alliance with American Airlines, the two airlines will not be coordinating schedules and routes, a key point in the federal court ruling that ended the tie-up.
The alliance will give JetBlue customers access to a much wider range of international and West Coast connections, while giving United access to JetBlue’s dense East Coast routes. Other than the marketing and loyalty agreements, the deal also provides for a slot-swap in 2027 that will see United returning seven flights to JFK, the only New York airport where it has no presence.
The alliance will phase in in stages over the next year or so, with loyalty plan connections likely to come first.
