Spirit and JetBlue aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
Eva María Uzcategui | Bloomberg | fake images
Spiritual airlines Shares rose about 10% on Monday after the budget airline and JetBlue They said after the market closed Friday that they would appeal a federal judge's ruling blocking the airlines' planned merger on antitrust grounds.
“Our merger agreement with Spirit remains in effect and we still have obligations under the agreement…This is standard procedure, required under the merger agreement,” JetBlue general counsel Brandon Nelson said in a memo to staff Friday. .
JetBlue agreed to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion in a 2022 deal that would have created the country's fifth-largest airline. U.S. District Court Judge William Young last week blocked that combination, citing reduced jurisdiction.
“JetBlue plans to convert Spirit aircraft to the JetBlue design and charge JetBlue's highest average fares to its customers,” Young wrote in his Jan. 16 decision. “Eliminating Spirit would hurt cost-conscious travelers who rely on Spirit's low fares.”
Spirit shares are down about 50% since that ruling. The stock had fallen more than 60% after the ruling, but recovered slightly after the appeal and after Spirit raised its financial forecast for the fourth quarter of 2023. The airline also said it is looking to refinance its debt.
JetBlue shares rose about 1% on Monday and have risen more than 3% since its merger with Sprit was blocked. Actions of Delta, American and South west each earned less than 1%.
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