The airlines announced their intention to appeal U.S. District Judge William Young’s ruling after the stock market closed on Friday.
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines said Friday they will appeal a federal judge’s ruling this week that blocked their plan to combine into a single carrier.
The airlines said they filed a notice of appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, following the terms of their agreement.
The Justice Department, which sued 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 carriers. JetBlue, which outbid Frontier Airlines, said it needed to acquire Spirit to compete more effectively against even bigger airlines.
