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JetBlue Airways faces a $2 million fine after a federal government investigation found it “operated several chronically delayed flights.”
This is the first time the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has imposed a penalty on an airline for persistently delaying flights. The government slammed the action, calling it a “prohibited and unrealistic scheduling practice that can harm both passengers and fair competition across the airline industry.”
The DOT order requires JetBlue to end chronic flight delays and pay a $2 million penalty, half of which will go directly to the U.S. Treasury. The other half will be used to compensate passengers who were affected by chronically delayed flights or any future flight interruptions of three hours or more caused by JetBlue over the next year, the DOT said in its announcement. Friday.
Future compensation should be assessed at a minimum of $75 for each injured passenger, the DOT said.
A JetBlue plane is seen at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on November 1, 2023. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Today’s action puts the entire airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement Friday. “The department will enforce the law against airlines with chronic delays or other unrealistic scheduling practices to protect healthy competition in commercial aviation and ensure that passengers are treated fairly.”
Under DOT rules, flights are considered chronically delayed if they operate at least 10 times per month and arrive more than 30 minutes late, or more than half the time. Cancellations are included in delays in this calculation, the government said. Systematically delaying a flight for more than four consecutive months is a timetable considered unrealistic.
Following the DOT investigation, government officials found that JetBlue operated four flights that were chronically delayed at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023. Each of the four flights was consistently delayed for at least five consecutive months, according to the DOT. In total, there were 395 delays and cancellations on these four chronically delayed flights.
Additionally, JetBlue continued to operate three other chronically delayed flights between Florida, New York and Connecticut despite warnings from the DOT, officials said.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimated that the airline was responsible for more than 70 percent of the disruptions on the four chronically delayed flights, based on data submitted to the DOT by JetBlue.
| Teleprinter | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JBLU | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. | 7.51 | +0.03 |
+0.40% |
Under DOT rules, airlines have “sufficient time to reschedule after a flight is chronically delayed to avoid illegal and unrealistic scheduling.” However, the DOT said “JetBlue failed to do so.”
However, JetBlue told FOX Business in a statement that it has “invested tens of millions of dollars to reduce flight delays, particularly related to ongoing air traffic control challenges” in its largest markets. Northeast and Florida over the past two years.
“As a result of these efforts, we have seen significant operational improvements in 2024, including improved on-time performance during this year’s peak summer travel season,” the New York-based carrier said.
JETBLUE AND SPIRIT AGREE TO END MERGER OVER REGULATORY ISSUES
Passengers drop off their checked bags with JetBlue Airlines at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 16, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
JetBlue went on to say that although it had reached a settlement to resolve this issue involving four flights in 2022 and 2023, the carrier believes that “the responsibility for reliable air transportation also lies with the U.S. government, which manages the system of our country’s air traffic control.”
JetBlue argued that the new administration must “prioritize modernizing outdated ATC technology” and address “chronic air traffic controller staffing shortages to reduce ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers each year “.
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But JetBlue is not alone. The DOT said it is also currently investigating other airlines for “unrealistic flight schedules.”
The DOT considers unrealistic schedules to be a deceptive and anticompetitive practice because it deprives travelers of reliable schedule information and “allows airlines to unfairly capture business from their competitors by deceiving consumers.”