JetBlue and Spirit Airlines continue to pursue merger and appeal Court decision

UPDATE Jan 20 – JetBlue and Spirit Airlines will appeal the Boston District Court’s ruling to permanently enjoin the proposed acquisition of Spirit by JetBlue. Three days after JetBlue said that it would evaluate the next steps, the two carriers said on Friday that they jointly filed a notice of appeal to the US Court of Appeals. The outcome could be crucial, especially to Spirit’s future.

As reported

, District Judge William Young ruled that the $3.8 billion proposed merger “does violence to the core principle of antitrust law: to protect the United States’ markets–and its market participants– from anticompetitive harm.”

To be more specific, the District Court says that the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits mergers and acquisitions “where in any line of commerce or in any activity affecting commerce in any section of the country, the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition.” In the conclusion of the verdict, it says: “Spirit is a small airline. But there are those who love it. To those dedicated customers of Spirit, this one’s for you. Why? Because the Clayton Act, a 109-year-old statute requires this result –- a statute that continues to deliver for the American people.”