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Jet Blue Airways It faces a $2 million fine after a federal government investigation found it “operated numerous chronically delayed flights.”
This is the first time the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has penalized an airline for consistently delaying flights. The government criticized the move, calling it an “unrealistic prohibited scheduling practice that could harm passengers and fair competition across the airline industry.”
The DOT order requires JetBlue to stop chronic flight delays and pay a $2 million fine, half of which will go directly to the US Treasury. The other half will be used to compensate travelers affected by chronic flight delays or any disruptions to future flights of three hours or more caused by JetBlue next year, the DOT said in its announcement Friday.
DOT said future compensation should be at least $75 per injured passenger.
A JetBlue aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) 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,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement on 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.”
According to DOT rules, flights that fly at least 10 times a month are delayed more than 30 minutes, and flights that arrive late more than half of the time are considered chronically delayed. The government said cancellations count as delays in that calculation. Persistent delay of a flight for more than four consecutive months Unrealistic planning is considered.
After DOT review, JetBlue operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023, government officials found. According to the DOT, each of the four flights has been consistently delayed for at least five consecutive months. In total, there were 395 delays and cancellations on these four chronically delayed flights combined.
In addition, JetBlue continued to operate three other chronically delayed flights between Florida, New York and Connecticut despite DOT warnings, officials said.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimated that the airline was responsible for more than 70 percent of the four chronically delayed flight disruptions, based on data submitted to the DOT by JetBlue.
| ticker | security | the last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JBLU | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. | 7.48 | -0.38 |
-4.83% |
According to the DOT rules, airlines are “given sufficient time to modify their schedules after chronic flight delays to avoid unlawful unscheduled rescheduling.” 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 of the Northeast and Florida over the past two years.
“Through these efforts, we have seen significant operational improvements in 2024, including better on-time performance during this year's peak summer travel season,” the New York-based airline said.
JETBLUE, SPIRIT AGREE TO TERMINATE MERGER DUE TO REGULATORY ISSUES
Passengers check their checked bags on JetBlue at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 16, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Joe Rudel/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The airline went on to say that while it has agreed to resolve the issue on four flights in 2022 and 2023, the company believes “the responsibility for reliable air travel rests equally with the US government.” which implements the air traffic control system of our country.”
The airline argued that the incoming administration should “prioritize modernizing outdated ATC technology” and “address the chronic shortage of air traffic controller staff to reduce ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers every year.”
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But JetBlue is not alone. The DOT said it is currently investigating other airlines for “unrealistic flight schedules.”
The DOT considers unrealistic scheduling to be deceptive and anticompetitive because it denies travelers reliable scheduling information and allows airlines to unfairly take business from competitors by misleading consumers.