JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are asking a federal appellate court for an expedited review as they seek the overturning of a lower court ruling that has blocked their planned merger.
In a petition filed Monday with the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, the two airlines said that an expedited timeline is necessary so that the appeal can be decided before the July 24 closing deadline of their merger agreement.
"Unless this appeal is expedited, defendants are likely to lose any right to appellate review," the petition states.
In a Jan. 16 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge William Young concluded that the law required him to analyze the competitive impacts of the proposed JetBlue-Spirit merger on a route-by-route basis rather than on a network-wide scale. In so doing, Young determined that the proposed merger doesn't meet legal muster because it would hurt Spirit's budget-conscious customers in nearly 300 nonstop and connecting markets around the country.
In their filing Monday, attorneys for JetBlue and Spirit seized upon Young's acknowledgement in his lengthy opinion that if JetBlue were to acquire Spirit, the combined airline would be able to compete more vigorously against American, Delta, United and Southwest to the benefit of consumers nationally.
"The district court's decision, if allowed to stand, will deprive millions of airline consumers across the country of the benefits of the proposed merger," the petition reads.
JetBlue and Spirit also argued that Young misapplied the governing antitrust law, known as the Clayton Act, by focusing too heavily on the customers who rely on Spirit's ultralow-cost model and whether a loss of discount service could be completely replaced on a route-by-route basis.
The Clayton Act, the airlines argue, is worded to prevent a substantial reduction in competition but does not require mergers to preserve the exact same level of competition.
JetBlue and Spirit filed the petition three days after JetBlue cast doubt on whether it remains committed to acquiring Spirit. In that Jan. 26 regulatory filing, JetBlue stated that the companies' agreement would potentially become eligible for termination beginning this past Sunday.
"JetBlue continues to evaluate its options under the merger agreement," the carrier said that day.
During its earnings call Tuesday, JetBlue laid out what incoming CEO Joanna Geraghty called it's "Plan B" to returning to profitability if the Spirit merger does not go through.