In anticipation of the extremely busy summer season, UK flag carrier British Airways is making strides to expand its service in the United States by growing its codeshare agreement with JetBlue.

Codeshare agreements with benefits

Besides upping the frequency of services on its already existing North American routes such as London Heathrow Airport to New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and other smaller US cities, British Airways is aiming to expand its influence in other ways. In 2024, the airline signed codeshare agreements with multiple carriers around the world in key markets that BA was looking to expand into.

Most notably, the airline signed codeshare agreements with Indian low-cost-carrier IndiGo and US hybrid carrier JetBlue. The partnership that British Airways signed with JetBlue was particularly beneficial to the latter, as the US has seen a turbulent few years of expansion into the European market.

The codeshare agreement that British Airways signed with jetBlue has proved particularly fruitful, as in December 2024, it was announced that BA flight numbers will now be extended to the following domestic JetBlue flights:

• Boston (BOS) to Atlanta (ATL).
• Boston to Austin (AUS).
• Boston to Cleveland (CLE).
• Boston to Denver (DEN).
• Boston to Seattle (SEA).
• New York (JFK) to Atlanta.
• New York to Sacramento (SMF).
• New York to Seattle.

Along with giving British Airways a foot up in the US market, JetBlue is also greatly benefiting from its codeshare agreement with the British airline. After all, JetBlue carrying BA flight numbers allows British Airways passengers to earn Avios points flying on the US carrier's flights, which, in turn, further opens up the European market to JetBlue customers and their frequent flier program, TrueBlue.

Not an official oneworld alliance member

Despite its partnerships and codeshare agreements with oneworld members British Airways and American Airlines, JetBlue hasn't yet become a member of the alliance. These partnerships, which (for example) allow JetBlue customers to book codeshare flights, are beneficial for the New York-based airline, as most of the major airports that JetBlue has hubs in (such as Boston, New York JFK, and Los Angeles) are oneworld strongholds for member airline American Airlines.

However, this doesn't signifiy whether the airline will join oneworld, as the carrier has one-off agreements with other non-aligned carriers such as Icelandair and even Star Alliance member Singapore Airlines.

Trouble in Europe

The past few years have seen jetBlue attempting to expand into the transatlantic long-haul market. In summer 2021, the carrier launched historic flights from its New York JFK hub to London Heathrow Airport using its Airbus A321LR aircraft. Shortly after the carrier expanded flights from Boston to London and then to Paris CDG and Amsterdam.

Despite promising growth, the US airline has had trouble with its European network, especially in Amsterdam, where the airline temporarily stopped flights during the summer of 2024. The carrier's Amsterdam flights are currently set to resume in March of 2025. As for the future of JetBlue in Europe, the airline aims to operate a fleet of Airbus A321XLRs on its transatlantic routes, although, as Travel Weekly reported last September, their deliveries have been deferred.

In a recent video reviewing the airline, aviation YouTube channel Simply Aviation reported on JetBlue's removal of hot meals from its economy class on its transatlantic flights. While this may seem like a big deal (especially on flights heading back to the US from Europe that can last upwards of seven hours in duration), the carrier is currently still offering cold meals such as wraps, salads, and sandwiches, to passengers onboard its flights.

Despite the problems that the US carrier has faced and overcome on its transatlantic routes, JetBlue acts as a solid partner airline to both British Airways and American Airlines on their legacy routes between New York, Boston and European cities such as London and Paris.

This gives oneworld members, frequent flyers, and the average traveler alike yet another option to choose from when flying between North America and Europe. After all, more competition (even if it's affiliated) is better for ticket prices. At the end of the day, the future of the JetBlue-BA codeshare and partnership looks to be quite promising.