The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved the "Blue Sky" collaboration between United Airlines and JetBlue, paving the way for the carriers to begin rolling out customer benefits in the fall, the carriers announced on Tuesday.
United Airlines and JetBlue announced the partnership in May, with plans to link loyalty programs and expand service into one another's hubs at Newark Liberty International and New York John F. Kennedy International airports, respectively. The collaboration also includes an interline agreement through which each carrier could offer the other's flights on its website and app.
With the green light from the U.S. DOT, the carriers said they will begin introducing benefits in phases in the fall. Those benefits will include the ability for United MileagePlus members to use and earn miles on most JetBlue flights, with JetBlue's TrueBlue members afforded the same capability on flights across United's domestic and international network. Members of both loyalty program also will have reciprocal benefits, such as priority boarding, same-day standby and access to extra-legroom seats.
The carriers said JetBlue could begin providing access to United for up to seven daily roundtrip flights out of JFK's Terminal 6 as early as 2027, with the carriers exchanging eight flight slots out of Newark in exchange. United ceased operations at JFK in 2015 and made a brief return in 2021 but pulled out the next year after not receiving its desired allotment of slots from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
JetBlue previously had an alliance with American Airlines that it terminated in 2023 after a U.S. District Court ruling ordering it to be dismantled. Spirit Airlines—with which JetBlue had a thwarted merger attempt—had filed with DOT urging the United collaboration be rejected.