JetBlue and Spirit are the sixth and seventh largest airlines in the country. AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines said Friday that they will appeal this week a federal judge's ruling that blocked their plan to combine into a single airline.
The airlines said they had appealed to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals under the terms of their agreement.
The Justice Department, seeking to block JetBlue's proposed $3.8 billion takeover of Spirit, declined to comment.
JetBlue and Spirit are the sixth and seventh largest airlines in the country. JetBlue, which outbid Frontier Airlines, said it needed to acquire Spirit to compete more effectively against 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 sued against the deal, arguing that consumers would be harmed and forced to pay higher airfares if Spirit – the country's largest low-cost airline – was eliminated.
The airlines announced their appeal in a statement that gave no further details.
Spirit said earlier Friday that a strong leisure travel season in December boosted fourth-quarter revenue. The Miramar, Florida-based airline also said it is trying to refinance $1.1 billion in debt that is due for payment in September 2025.
Spirit also said negotiations with Pratt & Whitney over engines that need to be overhauled – which led to the grounding of an average of 26 planes per day in 2024 – “have made significant progress since October.” The airline said it expects compensation that will “provide a significant source of liquidity over the next few years.”
Spirit has been losing money since the beginning of 2020. Some analysts said the company could face bankruptcy without the merger with JetBlue.
The airlines announced after the market closed on Friday that they would appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge William Young.
Shares of Spirit, which fell 62% within three days of the ruling, rose 17% in regular trading Friday and rose another 13% in after-hours trading. Shares of JetBlue fell 2% in extended trading.