JetBlue and United to Launch Partnership This Fall

You will soon be able to book a JetBlue Airways flight through United Airlines – and vise-versa – beginning later this year.

JetBlue and United announced Thursday the launch of a partnership that will initiate an interline agreement between both carriers starting this fall, aiming to expand each airlines’ networks and unlock more choices for their customers.

The partnership, pending federal review, will allow JetBlue and United to sell flights on each other’s websites and permit JetBlue TrueBlue and United MileagePlus members to redeem frequent flier miles across both networks. The partnership also brings shared reciprocal benefits including seat upgrades, priority boarding and same-day flight changes.

JetBlue’s Paisly booking platform will integrate into United’s digital sites, offering additional services to customers including hotels, rental cars, cruises and insurance.

Not inconsequentially, JetBlue will award United seven slot pairs at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, with United resuming flights to JFK starting in 2027. In return, United will grant JetBlue eight flight timings at Newark Liberty International Airport, allowing the carrier to expand its operations at Newark.

JetBlue and United will continue to manage and price their networks independently, including the launch of new routes, frequencies and promotions. That is expected to avoid legal issues that have derailed JetBlue’s past attempts at an alliance.

JetBlue’s tie-up with United comes following its abandoned Northeast Alliance partnership with American Airlines that was struck down by a federal judge in 2023 over antitrust concerns. The Northeast Alliance was a codeshare agreement that allowed each carrier to sell seats offered by the other on certain routes and share revenue from certain flights and access to airport gates in New York and Boston.

Separately, JetBlue attempted a merger deal with ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines in 2022 that would have created the nation’s fifth-largest airline. The proposed $3.8 billion agreement was rejected by another federal judge in 2024, ruling that the deal would increase fares and harm price-sensitive consumers.

The JetBlue-United partnership is the latest tie-up in the U.S. airline industry, with Alaska Airlines closing its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024 and Spirit Airlines forming a strategic partnership with Contour Airlines in May to connect smaller markets.

JetBlue’s partnership with United was expected, with the industry first reporting the potential tie-up earlier this spring. In April, JetBlue President Marty St. George stated that the airline was looking to partner with another domestic carrier to broaden its network.

“United’s global reach perfectly complements JetBlue’s East Coast leisure network and significantly expands the options and benefits for TrueBlue members, no matter where in the world they are traveling,” JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said in a statement.

For United, the partnership will enable it to return to New York-Kennedy for the first time since 2022 when it discontinued service citing an inability to acquire slots necessary for operating at the airport long-term. United’s return to JFK will boost its presence in New York City, which also includes Newark – a major transatlantic hub for United – and existing operations at New York-LaGuardia.

“We’re always looking for ways to give our MileagePlus members even more value and benefits and this collaboration gives them new, unique ways to use their hard-earned miles and find options that fit their schedule,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement.

Impact on Pittsburgh

Bill Swelbar, Chief Industry Analyst at Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy, said that the JetBlue-United partnership is all about delivering a high quality of service with each flight and leveraging their respective networks to create more consumer benefits that the carriers could not do alone.

“All airlines are working hard to find the right value proposition for their customers,” he said. “My thinking is that the announcement from United and JetBlue last week will only raise that customer focus bar higher.”

Airlines are also keen on meeting environmental goals and PIT is at the forefront of airport thinking as well, he added. “United, JetBlue and PIT all share the same futuristic vision of the air travel experience as well as the importance of having a comparative advantage relative to competing airports.”

Swelbar said that the combination of attributes PIT delivers should be attractive to the strategic partnership United and JetBlue.

“United has suggested that over the next five to 10 years airlines will look to airports serving metro areas where they have a comparative advantage over secondary airports in a region’s reach. Pittsburgh will likely become even more important within its region as service to smaller markets is reduced further.”

At PIT, JetBlue offers up to four daily nonstop flights to Boston and recently launched daily service to New York-Kennedy, which resumed on May 1 following a 12-year hiatus. The return of JetBlue’s PIT-JFK route provides more service to the New York market and adds connectivity for Pittsburghers traveling to and from the Caribbean. Through JFK, JetBlue also provides connectivity to other international markets through partner carriers including Turkish Airlines, Air Serbia and Qatar Airways.

United, meanwhile, flies daily nonstop service from PIT to its hubs at Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, San Francisco and Washington-Dulles. United resumed its second daily flight to its transpacific hub at San Francisco in late March for the peak travel season and will resume its third daily flight to Denver in June.

United, a member of the Star Alliance, also codeshares on fellow partner Air Canada’s daily service at PIT which includes year-round flights to Toronto and seasonal flights to Montreal.