In 2020, American Airlines and JetBlue entered into an agreement they called the Northeast Alliance. Under the terms of that agreement, the complaint alleges, the two airlines agreed to collude, rather than compete, for customers at four Northeast airports—Boston-Logan International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark-Liberty International Airport.
Prior to the Northeast Alliance, American and JetBlue competed rigorously for passengers in the Northeast, offering progressively better service at increasingly lower prices. But after signing the Northeast Alliance, the complaint alleges, the two companies agreed to coordinate their flight schedules into and out of the Northeast, drive up prices, and then split their ill-gotten higher profits. This agreement not only allowed the two companies to charge more for air travel on their planes, but allegedly relieved the competitive pressure felt by other airlines, resulting in higher travel costs for passengers, regardless of which airline they flew. The result: travelers paid significantly more to travel to, from, or through the four Northeast airports.
The complaint further alleges that the Northeast Alliance—and JetBlue and American’s conduct under that agreement—violates the federal antitrust laws, the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act. The complaint seeks to recover excess fees and airfare for all travelers that have flown through Boston, New York, or Newark since the defendants struck their anticompetitive Alliance.