BOSTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The CEO of Spirit Airlines on Wednesday defended in court the planned $3.8 billion acquisition of his company by JetBlue Airways as a means to create a viable competitor to the four larger airlines that dominate the U.S. skies. Ted Christie, Spirit's chief executive officer, during the second day of trial in the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit challenging the merger testified that his ultra-low-cost airline remained "relatively insignificant" despite years of growth. He said Spirit, which has not turned a profit in three years, had just around 3% of the market and was facing "more effective" competition from those larger airlines - United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines - in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Christie testified that throughout the negotiations for the deal in 2022, Spirit had been concerned how regulators would view a merger with JetBlue, as the Justice Department had already sued JetBlue to challenge a planned Northeast partnership with American Airlines. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Ted Christie, Christie, Spirit, Jay Cohen, William Young, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Nick Zieminski Organizations: BOSTON, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways, U.S . Department of, Spirit, United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier Group Holdings, U.S, Justice Department, Democratic, District of Columbia, Thomson Locations: U.S, Boston, New York City, Newark, Fort Lauderdale