NEW YORK — JetBlue and Spirit Airlines said Friday they will appeal a federal judge’s ruling this week that blocked their plan to merge into one airline.
The airlines said they had filed an appeal with the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals, in accordance with the terms of their agreement.
The Justice Department, which has filed a lawsuit seeking to block JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit, declined to comment.
JetBlue and Spirit are the nation’s sixth and seventh largest airlines. JetBlue, which surpassed Frontier Airlines, said it needed to acquire Spirit to compete more effectively with even larger airlines.
But on Tuesday, a federal judge in Boston ruled that the deal violated antitrust law. The U.S. Department of Justice had filed a lawsuit to halt the deal, arguing that consumers would be harmed and forced to pay higher fares if Spirit — the nation’s largest discount airline — were eliminated.
The airlines announced their appeal in a statement that provided no further details.
Earlier Friday, Spirit said a strong December holiday season boosted fourth-quarter sales. The Miramar, Florida-based airline also said it is trying to refinance $1.1 billion in debt due in September 2025.
Spirit also said that negotiations with Pratt & Whitney on engines needing rework – resulting in the grounding of an average of 26 planes per day by 2024 – “have progressed significantly since October.” a few years.”
Spirit has been losing money since early 2020. Some analysts said it could go bankrupt without the merger with JetBlue.
The airlines announced they will appeal U.S. District Judge William Young’s ruling after the stock market closed Friday.
Shares of Spirit, which fell 62% in three days after the ruling, rose 17% in regular trading on Friday and rose another 13% in after-hours trading. Shares of JetBlue fell 2% in extended trading.