American Airlines says it's suing JetBlue as partnership talks end

• He said, "Ultimately, we were unable to agree on a construct that preserved the benefits of the partnership we envisioned, made sense operationally or financially, or was consistent with the travel rewards and co-branded card business objectives that are so important to our strategy and our customers."
• American filed a lawsuit in the Business Court of Texas against JetBlue on Monday "to recover money owed to American" following the unwinding of the previous Northeast Alliance (NEA) partnership, Johnson said.

State of play: The alliance was dissolved after the Biden Justice Department successfully sued to block the deal.

• American lost an appeal against the decision in 2023.

What they're saying: A spokesperson for JetBlue said late Monday that the airline had "continued to work collaboratively with American to wind down the NEA" since the court's ruling.

• The spokesperson said the company would review American's complaint but declined to comment further on the matter due to the pending litigation.
• "We've previously said we are talking to multiple airlines about a new partnership," the spokesperson added. "We have been making good progress and expect to announce a partnership agreement in the second quarter."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comments from a JetBlue spokesperson and with further context.