A Texas court rejected JetBlue Airways’s application to dismiss a lawsuit brought by American Airlines, which seeks over USD100 million in damages over the companies’ defunct Northeast Alliance (NEA).

Judge Jerry Bullard of the Texas Business Court in Fort Worth said that rather than facing American’s claims on its merits, JetBlue has tried but failed to disprove that the court has jurisdiction over the matter. At the same time, American has satisfactorily pleaded in favour of the court's jurisdiction.

JetBlue argued that the dispute centred on operations and revenues at four Northeast airports and should be thus governed. However, the judge said that JetBlue benefited from thousands of Texas flights and profits derived from various NEA routes to and from the state while operating under the alliance.

American Airlines alleges that JetBlue failed to make contractual payments after an audit and reconciliation process, after AA struck down the partnership.

Bullard’s ruling came at an early stage of the case and did not address the merits of American’s allegations, Reuters reported.