JetBlue Airways has been sued for allegedly blocking online travel agencies from displaying its fares alongside other carriers’ fares, in an illegal bid to steer travelers to its website and charge more, reported Reuters.
Fareportal, which operates the CheapOair and OneTravel websites, is seeking unspecified damages in its antitrust lawsuit filed on Tuesday night, January 5, in the federal court in Brooklyn.
It claimed that JetBlue’s refusal to let it display the carrier’s fares was meant to thwart comparison shopping and enable JetBlue to boost fares along its strongest routes, including to and from New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
Fareportal claimed that JetBlue’s more than US$1.8 billion of taxpayer support and US Treasury loans to weather the COVID-19 pandemic has cushioned the Long Island City, New York-based carrier’s ability in the near term to lose travelers who book elsewhere.
“JetBlue is using COVID-relief handouts from American taxpayers to take American consumers for a ride,” and “make it difficult if not impossible for travelers to determine the airline that offers the best combination of price and service,” the complaint stated.
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