JetBlue Fights Failure to Obtain Amsterdam Slots

JetBlue launched its European service in 2021 with flights to London. It is about to start flights to Paris this summer. It appears that Amsterdam was to be the carrier’s third European destination, however, JetBlue hasn’t been able to secure slots at Schiphol Airport. Now, the carrier is pushing back against the entities that control slot allocation.

In a Feb. 14 filing with U.S. Department of Transportation, JetBlue complained that the Netherlands government is in violation of the U.S.-EU Open Skies air transport agreement “by failing to ensure JetBlue is provided all operating authorizations, including slots, required to conduct international air transportation at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.”

JetBlue on Sept. 12, 2022, requested the Airport Coordination Netherlands, the independent governing body that allots slots, to reallocate to the carrier two slots previously held by Aeroflot to begin with the summer 2023 season. JetBlue had planned to fly daily between Amsterdam and each New York’s JFK and Boston. The request was denied on Sept. 19. 

JetBlue claims that the reason it has not been awarded slots is because of the Netherlands government’s noise reduction plan, which involves a “drastic reduction” in the number of annual flight movements at Schiphol, even though the carrier planned to operate the routes with Airbus A321LR aircraft, which are “quieter and lower-emitting than the vast majority of aircraft” serving Schiphol today. 

The carrier in the filing noted that in support of that noise reduction plan, ACNL has retired slots that otherwise would be made available for new entrants, has “construed the EU Slot Regulation” in a way that eliminates the possibility of new entrants through alternative means, and that it has begun to withhold the assignment of certain slots to current airlines.

JetBlue added that the Netherlands government has “made no serious attempt to explain how the lack of any accommodations for new entrants under its planned environmental measure” is consistent with the International Air Transport Association Worldwide Slot Guidelines and the EU Slot Regulation, which cover setting aside a specific percentage of slot pools for new entrant air services. 

In addition, JetBlue accuses the Netherlands government of violating the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act, which “prohibits a foreign government or entity from engaging in an activity that is an unjustifiable or unreasonable discriminatory, predatory, or anticompetitive practice against an air carrier” or “imposes an unjustifiable or unreasonable restriction on access of an air carrier to a foreign market.” 

Further, the carrier attempted to access slots from codeshare and interline partner airlines with slot holdings at Schiphol, “after one such willing partner was identified,” but the ACNL denied the proposal on Oct. 4, according to the filing. The allocating body also advised JetBlue that such usage would be permitted only if JetBlue were engaged in “joint operations” with the other carrier, involving a revenue-sharing joint venture or a “blocked spaced arrangement.”

“ACNL’s position is inconsistent with the [IATA] WASG and blatantly discriminates against low-cost carrier business model choices and other airlines that elect not to be part of an international immunized alliance,” JetBlue claimed.

JetBlue submitted another slot request on Oct. 6, which ACNL declined on Nov. 2. The carrier also appealed to Air France-KLM for slots subject to the approval of the European Commission as part of “competition remedies imposed under various European Commission slot remedies,” but was denied that request by Air France-KLM on Nov. 2. After Flybe ceased operations, JetBlue requested that carrier’s slots, even on a temporary basis, and again was denied.

The carrier “sought repeatedly” to discuss the issue with the government, and “until only very recently” the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, which is responsible for aviation policy in the Netherlands, declined to meet with JetBlue.

Further efforts “would be futile,” according to the filing, which concludes with a request that if the carrier is not granted the Aeroflot or Flybe slots, DOT “should require KLM to provide such slots to JetBlue.” The carrier argued that KLM is part of the “Blue Skies Alliance” with Delta Air Lines, Air France and Virgin Atlantic, for which DOT has granted antitrust immunity, and that comes with “slot transfer conditions” to ensure competition.