JetBlue Adds Reagan, Inks Agreement With American

Big news from JetBlue this morning. The airline has signed an agreement with American that will allow customers to book seamless connections to a number of American’s international routes. In an announcement, JetBlue said the collaboration “will offer JetBlue customers simple connections to American’s international flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Boston’s Logan International Airport, where JetBlue is the largest domestic airline, and offer American’s customers convenient nonstop domestic flight options on JetBlue from those markets.”

This means JetBlue customers flying from Burlington, Vermont, for example, can connect to a Paris-bound American flight in JFK, all on one ticket. JetBlue says its 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.” American customers will be able to connect to 18 domestic markets served by JetBlue.

Coinciding with this deal is a slot swap between the two airlines, the result of which is new JetBlue service at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. JetBlue will transfer 12 daily round-trips at JFK to American, while American will transfer eight round-trips at Reagan and one at White Plains, New York.

JetBlue has not yet announced which destinations it will serve from Reagan.

There’s no timeline set for either of these deals, but it’s fair to assume that both will be a big win for travelers, and the airlines, when they take effect. JetBlue and its customers in particular will benefit from expanded reach into American’s international route network, while American will gain access to destinations it doesn’t currently serve, and maybe reap some ancillary benefits from associating itself with a perennially popular airline.

Readers, will you consider a JetBlue/American flight for your next international trip? Are you excited to see JetBlue add service to Reagan? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.