The Justice Division has received a lawsuit to undo American Airways‘ partnership with JetBlue Airways that allowed them coordinate routes and schedules within the Northeast U.S.

The lawsuit, filed in September 2021, alleged that the airways’ alliance was successfully a merger that may harm customers by driving up fares. The trial started a 12 months later in Boston and wrapped up in December.

Fort Price, Texas-based American Airways and New York-based JetBlue Airways argued they wanted the so-called Northeast Alliance to raised compete with different massive carriers Delta Air Traces and United Airways in congested airports within the area.

JetBlue and American usually are not allowed to coordinate fares underneath the partnership, which was authorized within the last days of the Trump administration in 2021 and has since expanded.

JetBlue had beforehand warned in a securities submitting {that a} ruling in opposition to the NEA “may have an antagonistic impression on our enterprise, monetary situation, and outcomes of operations.

“Moreover, we’re incurring prices related to implementing operational and advertising and marketing components of the NEA, which might not be recoverable if we have been required to unwind all or a portion of the NEA,” the corporate stated.

The airways did not instantly touch upon the ruling Friday.

Individually, on March 7, the Justice Division filed an antitrust lawsuit to dam JetBlue’s plan to amass finances provider Spirit Airways, arguing the deal would drive up fares, “harming cost-conscious fliers most acutely.”

The mix confronted a excessive hurdle for approval by the Biden administration, which has vowed to take a tough line in opposition to what it views as anticompetitive offers.

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