The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on Friday that it will penalize JetBlue Airways with a $2 million fine for operating “multiple chronically delayed flights.”
During an investigation conducted by DOT, it was discovered that JetBlue had operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023. “Each flight was chronically delayed for five straight months in a row – or more,” reads a press release from DOT.
According to DOT, a flight is considered “chronically delayed” if it is flown a minimum of 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late over 50% of the time. Cancellations are also included as delays within this calculation.
Under DOT rules, airlines are prohibited from promising schedules that are unrealistic and do not accurately reflect flight departure and arrival times.
“Unrealistic scheduling is an unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive practice that disrupts passengers’ travel plans, denies them reliable scheduling information, and allows airlines to unfairly capture business from competitors by misleading consumers,” reads a statement from DOT.
After warning JetBlue about the chronic delays on its flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, DOT states that JetBlue continued to operate three more chronically delayed flights between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and JFK, and Fort Lauderdale and Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
The four chronically delayed flights listed above accounted for over 70% of JetBlue’s disruptions, according to estimates from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
“Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday, January 3. “Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality.”
DOT’s order requires JetBlue to cease and desist its chronic flight delays, and the airline must pay a $2 million penalty. Half of that penalty ($1 million) must be paid directly to the U.S. Treasury.
The remaining $1 million from the penalty will be used to compensate JetBlue passengers who were harmed by either the chronically delayed flights or any future flight cancellations or delays of three-plus hours caused by the airline within the next year. According to DOT, this compensation must be valued at a minimum of $75 for each harmed passenger.
For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website.