JetBlue and United Get DOT Approval for Blue Sky Partnership

The Department of Transportation (DOT) will not stop JetBlue and United from moving forward with their planned Blue Sky partnership.

The airlines announced on Tuesday that the DOT completed its review of Blue Sky and that it is allowing them to move forward with the partnership. Specifics on how the partnership will roll out should be revealed in the coming weeks, but JetBlue said that the integration should start sometime this fall, and that the benefits will roll out in phases.

The partnership, which includes an interline agreement, will allow United’s MileagePlus customers to earn and use miles on most JetBlue flights, and JetBlue’s TrueBlue members to do the same with United’s flights.

Status reciprocity is included, too—frequent flyers with elite status on United who enjoy perks like priority boarding, extra legroom, and same-day standby or flight changes will get the same when flying JetBlue, and vice versa. Here’s how that shakes out:

As part of the agreement, United will get access to JetBlue’s slots at JFK International Airport for up to seven daily round-trip flights out of JFK Terminal 6 to begin as early as 2027