Mesa Air Group, which kicked off the interisland fare war when it launched go! in June 2006, said yesterday that it had a net loss of $68.2 million during the three months ending Sept. 30, 2007, which compares with a net profit of $4.8 million in the year-earlier quarter.

On a per share basis, the company lost $2.37 during its latest quarter, which compared with a net profit of 14 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.

In October, Federal Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris ordered Mesa to pay Hawaiian Airlines $80 million for misusing confidential business information.

"We are certainly disappointed with our 2007 earnings results which have been adversely impacted by the judgment rendered in the Hawaiian Airlines litigation," said Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa's chief executive officer.

"We believe the judgment was wrong, and we believe an appellate court will ultimately find the sanctions and the judgment should be set aside. ..."