U.S. Court of Appeals Affirms Justice Department’s Victory Protecting Airline Competition

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today affirmed the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts' ruling in favor of the Justice Department and the Attorneys General of six states and the District of Columbia in their civil antitrust lawsuit to stop the Northeast Alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue.

"Today's decision is a hard-won victory for the millions of Americans who count on competition between airlines to fly affordably, whether to visit family, to go on vacation, or to travel for business," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. "The airline industry - like every industry - must comply with the antitrust laws that protect consumers and prohibit anticompetitive coordination."

"Today's decision is yet another litigation victory for the Antitrust Division and American travelers who depend on competition for lower airfare and higher quality," said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. "I am incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication of the Antitrust Division staff that investigated and litigated this case, and to the state law enforcement partners who brought this case with us."

The court's opinion followed a judgment by the district court upholding the Justice Department's challenge to American Airlines and JetBlue's Northeast Alliance in May 2023. The Northeast Alliance was a series of agreements between American Airlines and JetBlue through which the two airlines consolidated their operations in Boston and New York City. The district court ruled that JetBlue and American Airlines' decision to stop competing in Boston and New York, where they are major players, violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act because it eliminated competition for American travelers in many domestic markets for scheduled air passenger service, and the court of appeals affirmed that decision.