The DOT estimated that 70% of the 145 delays recorded on those flights were within the control of JetBlue.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a $2 million penalty against JetBlue Airways for operating three consistently delayed flights. The penalty marks the first time the DOT has issued a penalty against an airline for operating chronically delayed flights, which they define as a flight that arrives more than 30 minutes late more than 50% of the time.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned that operating flights behind schedule consistently is against the law, and the DOT will continue enforcement actions. “Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers. Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality,” he said. “The department will enforce the law against airlines with chronic delays or unrealistic scheduling practices in order to protect healthy competition and ensure passengers are treated fairly.”
The DOT considers chronically delayed flights to be an “unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive practice.” When an airline consistently delays the same flight for several months, the DOT views that the airline must have had adequate time to make scheduling or operational changes to rectify the problems faced by specific flights.
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The JetBlue flights in question were for multi-month periods in 2022 and 2023. Included in the fine were consistent delays on nonstop flights between New York Kennedy (JFK) and Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU); between Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) and Orlando, FL (MCO); and between JFK and Windsor Locks, CT (BDL).
The DOT estimated that 70% of the 145 delays recorded on those flights were within the control of JetBlue, rather than being caused by weather or Air Traffic Control congestion. DOT further asserts they gave JetBlue ample time to fix their schedule on the affected flights before considering enforcement action. DOT believes that carriers can make schedule adjustments 60 days in advance, so once a flight is chronically late during a given month, they should be able to “make the schedule more realistic by month five”, further noting that JetBlue failed to make those changes to their chronically delayed flights.
JetBlue, for its part, maintains Air Traffic Control was, in fact, the root cause of the chronic delays in the past. The airline says it has “tens of millions of dollars in investment in its systems in order to address issues with air traffic control, especially in the U.S. northeast corridor to as much as reasonably possible prevent any chronically delayed flights in the future.”
JetBlue also pointed out that until 2018, the DOT routinely notified airlines when it had tracked multiple months of consistently delayed flights. DOT counters that airlines were notified they would no longer receive individualized warnings (chronically delayed flights for all U.S. carriers have their own section on the publicly available Air Travel Consumer Report that DOT produces on a monthly basis) and asserts that “carriers have both the capability and legal responsibility to avoid chronic delays, even in the absence of warnings … that a chronic delay violation is imminent.”
One million dollars of the penalty will be payable in cash; the other $1 million will be credited to JetBlue to compensate passengers on the affected flights in the past, and to compensate passengers on future airline-caused delays of more than three hours when passengers are given travel credits of more than $75.
The DOT also says it has ongoing investigations into other airlines for operating unrealistic flight schedules, but it is unclear whether those investigations will continue during the incoming administration. Former Wisconsin Congressman and Fox News contributor Sean Duffy has been nominated to the role of Transportation Secretary, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Since 2021, the DOT has issued a record number of penalties against US and foreign airlines—more than $225 million, compared to $70 million for the period between 1996 and 2020.
