JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) has asked the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to force KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) to give up a daily slot pair at Amsterdam Schiphol to JetBlue, should the Dutch government and the Dutch airport slot coordinator continue to refuse to reassign ex-Aeroflot or ex-flybe. slots to the American airline.

The airline's complaint to the DOT claims the Dutch government has violated the EU-US Open Skies Agreement and the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act by blocking the reallocation of Amsterdam slots.

"The refusal of the Government of the Netherlands to make slots available to JetBlue is due to the Government's noise reduction plan involving a drastic reduction in the number of annual flight movements at Amsterdam airport. In support of that plan, the slot coordinator for the airport has: (a) retired slots that would otherwise be made available for reallocation to new entrants at the airport; (b) construed the EU Slot Regulation in a manner that forecloses the possibility of a new entrant gaining access to the airport through alternative means; and (c) reportedly begun to withhold the assignment of certain slots, which ordinarily would be afforded historic precedence under the IATA Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) to incumbents," the American airline argued.

Although JetBlue acknowledges that Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL) is nominally an independent public body not controlled by the government, it argues that as the slot denials are due to the implementation of the government's policy, The Hague can ultimately be held responsible for the violation of international law.

"To the best of JetBlue's knowledge, the Government of the Netherlands 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 WASG and the EU Slot Regulation, which entail setting aside a specific percentage of the slot pool for new entrant air service," JetBlue said.

The airline applied for a daily slot pair, previously held by Aeroflot, in early September 2022 amid plans to serve the Dutch gateway out of New York JFK and Boston with an A321-200NY(XLR) starting in the Summer 2023 scheduling season. JetBlue's request was denied by the ACNL after just a week.

JetBlue then tried to source a slot pair from another airline and while succeeding in finding a partner, was again denied by the ACNL which said it would only be allowed if JetBlue and the other airline agreed to a revenue-sharing deal.

JetBlue Airways also enquired about remedial slots from Air France (AF, Paris CDG) originating from the airline's merger with KLM but was denied them, too. The airline failed to secure slots through normal seasonal reallocation and later asked for slots vacated after the collapse of flybe., at least temporarily, and again to no avail.

The European Commission reportedly told the airline that addressing aviation competition was not its current priority. The Dutch government refused to meet with JetBlue until mid-January 2023, and allegedly told the carrier to consult with the US DOT, which has no role in governing slots at Amsterdam airport.

The airline asked the DOT to step in and, should the ACNL continue to refuse JetBlue's requests for slots, force KLM to give up its slots. The Dutch flag carrier is a part of the US-authorised transatlantic joint venture with Delta Air Lines, Air France, and Virgin Atlantic. JetBlue said the JV controls over 60% of slots at Amsterdam and enjoys a privileged position in the Amsterdam-US market. As a result, JetBlue argues that the DOT can force KLM to release a small part of its slot portfolio to stimulate competition and avoid giving an undue advantage to the immunised JV.

JetBlue emphasised Amsterdam airport was the only airport suitable to be its gateway to the Dutch city and the country at large.

The ch-aviation capacities module shows that JetBlue's European network currently comprises flights from each of JFK and Boston to each of London Heathrow and London Gatwick. It plans to start serving Paris CDG in 2023.