Jetblue is killing my Disney buzz

[jsilvers]

They're required to be able to interline since they're a US carrier

First, that's not what interlining means. It refers to whether an airline has arrangements to coordinate with another airline generally, not just in the event of a delay/cancellation/etc.

Second, there is simply no requirement that US carriers make arrangements with another carrier in the event of a delay/cancellation/etc. You may see references to "Rule 240" which was a pre-deregulation tariff requirement, but it hasn't been mandated for decades. JetBlue's contract of carriage voluntarily provides for compensation in the event of "controllable" delays, but makes no provision for rebooking on other airlines.

 

[jec6613]

First, that's not what interlining means. It refers to whether an airline has arrangements to coordinate with another airline generally, not just in the event of a delay/cancellation/etc.

Second, there is simply no requirement that US carriers make arrangements with another carrier in the event of a delay/cancellation/etc. You may see references to "Rule 240" which was a pre-deregulation tariff requirement, but it hasn't been mandated for decades. JetBlue's contract of carriage voluntarily provides for compensation in the event of "controllable" delays, but makes no provision for rebooking on other airlines.

Interlining is a required feature of the booking system since 2007, by IATA regulation, for all carriers operating in the US. The larger agreements may not be in place (although they are for B6 on all five legacies), but JetBlue can book a customer on another airline in their own ticketing system, they simply end up paying the carrying airline the full fare if there's no pre-existing agreement. It can get a bit more complicated, especially after the flight is turned over from booking to the airport, but that's the high level view of it.

As for actually being interlined, almost no CoC mention it anywhere, but in the event of airline controlled delays it's relatively frequent - otherwise, the penalties for not getting the passenger to their destination on time can be quite steep. As there is no compensation required for WX delays, interlining is almost unheard of (short of high status elites) under those circumstances. In this case, it was a weather delay and so it's moot.

 

[jsilvers]

Interlining is a required feature of the booking system since 2007, by IATA regulation, for all carriers operating in the US.

IATA is a trade organization, not a government agency. It can recommend standards, but it cannot actually "regulate" airlines to do anything. Moreover, many U.S. airlines are not even members of IATA, such as Southwest and Spirit, although JetBlue is a member. (And I'm also not sure that you are even correctly describing what IATA did in 2007 - exactly what IATA resolution are you referring to?)

Moreover, there are no "penalties for not getting the passenger to their destination on time." As noted, JetBlue does voluntarily provide for compensation in the event of "controllable" delays, but there are no applicable government regulations in the U.S. (If you think otherwise, please point out the precise section of the Title 14 regulations that you think is relevant.)