Texas court allows American’s more-than-$100 million claim against JetBlue

Judge Jerry Bullard of the Texas Business Court in Fort Worth refused to dismiss American Airlines’ contract suit against JetBlue, clearing a claim for more than $100 million to proceed into discovery and likely months of accounting and legal wrangling. The case, filed as American Airlines v. JetBlue Airways, No. 25-BC08A-0007, centers on payments and settlement accounting tied to the carriers’ now-defunct Northeast Alliance.

Hoodline reported that Bullard “refused to toss American's contract suit, clearing the case to move ahead into discovery and what now looks like months of number crunching and accounting arguments between the two airlines.” Reuters’s account noted the judge rejected JetBlue’s argument that the dispute was outside Texas courts’ authority and cautioned that “Bullard’s ruling is a setback for JetBlue but came at an early stage of the case and did not address the merits of American’s allegations.”

American’s complaint, as described in filings and reporting, seeks to recover roughly, or, in several reports, more than, $100 million it says remains unpaid after the parties dissolved a commercial coordination that had they created to share revenue and coordinate flights in the Northeast. Industry outlets and court reporting say the alliance involved “thousands of flights,” employees and leased airport assets linked to Texas-based American, a fact the state court relied on in denying JetBlue’s jurisdictional challenge.

The Northeast Alliance itself has a contested origin year across reports, several outlets refer to the 2020 alliance while SimpleFlying cites a 2021 launch, but they agree on the pivotal follow-up: a federal judge found the partnership unlawful in 2023 and ordered its dissolution on antitrust grounds. That federal ruling ended coordinated network operations but left unresolved the complex task of unwinding shared revenue, allocations and settlement procedures. American contends JetBlue “has done nothing” to reconcile alleged outstanding obligations since the alliance collapsed, language reported by industry outlets summarizing American’s position.

Counsel lists reported in court coverage identify American’s lawyers as David Tolley and Michael Bern of Latham & Watkins and Dee Kelly of Kelly Hart & Hallman. JetBlue is represented by Michael Hanin and Joshua Naftalis of Pallas Partners and Paul Schuster and Warren Harris of Bracewell. Reuters reported that neither airline immediately responded to requests for comment.

Beyond the immediate dollar figure, the case highlights broader industry and regulatory dynamics. The Biden-era antitrust scrutiny that unspooled the Northeast Alliance has produced a downstream rush of contract disputes as carriers unwind joint ventures and revenue-sharing arrangements. For major carriers, litigation over settlement accounting can translate into legal costs, balance-sheet volatility and operational distraction, factors that can ripple into pricing strategies and network decisions, particularly in the high-margin Northeast markets targeted by the alliance.

Practically, Bullard’s order sets a discovery schedule to be issued by the Texas Business Court and opens the door to document exchanges, forensic accounting and depositions that could reveal detailed revenue-allocation practices. The dispute may also test how far state courts will go in supervising contract unwinds when federal antitrust rulings have already altered the operational landscape.

The immediate outcome for passengers is limited: the ruling does not affect fares or schedules. But for investors and industry watchers, the case is a reminder that dismantling large commercial partnerships can produce protracted, costly litigation, and that antitrust enforcement does not end the business questions that gave rise to those alliances.