American Airlines, JetBlue to pay $2M in legal fees to six states over NEA loss
American Airlines and JetBlue have agreed to pay nearly $2 million in legal fees to six US states after losing a lawsuit challenging the airlines’ now-blocked Northeast Alliance (NEA) partnership.
The payment will be shared equally between the two airlines and will go to the District of Columbia and six states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Arizona, as stated in a court order from the United States District Court of Massachusetts on January 21, 2025.
The court order specified that the Plaintiff States “shall be paid reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs” by American and JetBlue” under Section 16 of the Clayton Act.
“Plaintiff States and American and JetBlue have consented to the entry of this order without trial or adjudication of any issue of fact or law,” the court order read.
The payment to the Plaintiff States from this order can be used not only for payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses, but also for antitrust or consumer protection law enforcement or such other purposes as the “Attorneys General deem appropriate, consistent with the states’ law.”
The airlines rejected the states’ antitrust allegations and said that agreeing to pay the fees does not mean they admit to any wrongdoing, as reported by Reuters.
In September 2021, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), along with Attorneys General from six US states and the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit to prevent a partnership formed by the two airlines.
The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, and the DOJ was joined by the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Arizona and the District of Columbia.
American Airlines and JetBlue launched their “Northeast Alliance” partnership in 2020 which combined the two airlines’ operations at four major airports: Boston Logan (BOS), John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark Liberty (EWR). The alliance allowed the airlines to share revenues earned at these airports, eliminating their incentives to compete with one another. The post American Airlines, JetBlue to pay $2M in legal fees to six states over NEA loss appeared first on AeroTime.
American Airlines and JetBlue have agreed to pay nearly $2 million in legal fees to six US states…
The post American Airlines, JetBlue to pay $2M in legal fees to six states over NEA loss appeared first on AeroTime.
