Etihad and JetBlue are standalone companies. The two airlines aren’t part of any of the major airline alliance, but they do need to build their own network of partnerships to remain competitive on a global stage. That’s exactly what these two airlines have done with the latest agreement signed. Let’s take a closer look.
jetBlue’s and Etihad New Agreement
JetBlue and Etihad Airways will now allow travellers to accrue miles on each other’s flights. Although the two airlines are not part of any alliance this is still possible as a standalone agreement between the two carriers. Therefore, Trueblue and Etihad Guest frequent flyers will be now able to build up their miles regardless of which plane they are one.
This agreement follows 2 major events. On the JetBlue side of things, the carrier’s intended merger with Spirit didn’t take place. This meant that the airline had to pursue other avenues to sustain its growth plans. Etihad after going through its own restructuring has recently launched and powered up its operations to the US east coast, specifically to 2 major JetBlue hubs such as Boston and New York.
Also, this frequent flyer agreement is part of a much larger codeshare agreement that allows passengers to make their way through the two airlines’ networks to reach their destination. At this moment it makes a lot of sense for these carriers to strengthen ties.
Other Similar Agreements
As mentioned, this is not a one-of-a-kind agreement. Etihad has quite a few of these standing to attract passengers who habitually fly with another carrier. For instance, you could accrue Etihad Guest miles by flying the likes of: Korean Air, Air France, SAS, or Virgin Australia. These bilateral agreements are necessary to remain appealing to a broad spectrum of passengers that will book even according to how they can build up their miles.
This is something that also Emirates has worked on in past years, while Qatar Airways has taken an entirely different path. The Qatari airline has in fact opted to join the Oneworld alliance as it also owns a stake in the IAG group.
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