American Airlines plans to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that its operating alliance with JetBlue Airways Corp. violates antitrust laws and must be dismantled. The partnership, known as the Northeast Alliance, has provided consumer benefits and strengthened competition with other airlines, American CEO Robert Isom said Wednesday at an industry conference in New York. “I, quite frankly, disagree with the ruling,” he said. “We’ve got a legal system that allows for appeal and we’re going to do that.” The ruling this month to shut down the partnership was a blow for the carriers, which have criticized the judge’s decision as “plainly incorrect” and based on no proof of harm to consumers. American and JetBlue created the partnership in 2020 to compete more effectively against Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. in the New York City area and Boston. American’s flights in the New York region, excluding routes between its hubs and those of partner airlines, is less than 5% of total capacity and loss of the alliance would not have a material impact to its earnings, CFO Devon May reiterated at the same event. JetBlue said it didn’t have an immediate comment. American and JetBlue shares were little changed in extended trading in New York. US District Judge Leo Sorokin said in the May 19 ruling that the alliance, which allows the carriers to share routes, revenue, passengers and flight slots, “substantially” reduced competition in the domestic market. It also replaced “full-throated competition with broad cooperation” between American and JetBlue, he said. Sorokin blocked the airlines from further implementing the partnership, effective 30 days from the order. He set a 21-day deadline for the companies to respond. The ruling came after the US Justice Department challenged the alliance, accusing it of being a merger in all but name that had led to higher prices. The Justice Department’s lawsuit was the first challenge the government has brought against airlines since 2013, and is part of the agency’s renewed trust-busting efforts under Joe Biden’s administration. The department has also sued to block JetBlue’s proposed $3.8b merger with Spirit Airlines. A trial is scheduled for October.<br/>
oneworld
American Airlines raised its adjusted earnings outlook for Q2 thanks to strong travel demand and lower fuel prices. Adjusted per-share earnings will come in between $1.45 and $1.65, American estimated Wednesday, up from a previous forecast of $1.20 to $1.40 per share. The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline said it’s now expecting unit revenues in the three months ending June 30 to come in 1% to 3% lower than the same period last year, an improvement from a prior forecast for a decline of as much as 4%. American’s shares added more than 1% on Wednesday trading while the S&P 500 fell. The airline is scheduled to report results for Q2 at the end of July.<br/>
Qatar Airways has signed a deal with energy giant Shell to source 3,000 metric tons of neat sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for its operations at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. SAF is made of biomass called feedstocks, such as forestry or agricultural waste or cooking oil. It produces up to 80% fewer carbon emissions over its life cycle compared to the traditional jet fuel it replaces. The Qatar Airways deal builds on an existing jet fuel contract that the Gulf airline has with Shell at Amsterdam, which will now see the carrier use at least 5% SAF over the contract period for the fiscal year 2023-2024. It means that Qatar Airways will be reducing its emissions on flights from Amsterdam by approximately 7,500 tons of CO2 for the fiscal year, the airline said in a Wednesday press release.<br/>The deal is part of a wider sustainable fuel push by the One World Alliance, of which Qatar Airways is a member. The alliance, which also has American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia among its members, has set a target of using SAF for 10% of combined fuel volumes by 2030. Qatar Airways group CE Akbar Al Baker said his airline was “strongly committed” to ramping up the use of SAF. “Last year, we signed our first offtake agreement in the US, and now we are placing a multimillion US dollar SAF deal in Amsterdam to illustrate our SAF commitment and reiterate our calls for a more robust SAF supply chain across our global network,” Baker said in the release.<br/>