Christine Boynton January 03, 2025
Credit: Joe Pries
For the first time, the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) is penalizing a U.S. airline for “chronic flight delays,” assessing a $2 million penalty against JetBlue Airways for infractions it says occurred in 2022 and 2023.
Half the amount will be credited to JetBlue for customer compensation costs, while $1 million is owed to the U.S. Treasury Department. Active investigations into other airlines for unrealistic flight schedules are also ongoing, DOT noted while announcing the penalty on Jan. 3.
“Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “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.”
DOT defines a flight as “chronically delayed” if it is flown at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 min. late over 50% of the time during that month. According to the DOT’s investigation, JetBlue operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023, including on New York JFK service to Raleigh Durham, N.C.; JFK to both Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla.; and between FLL and Windsor Locks, Conn. Each flight was chronically delayed for five or more consecutive months, the department said.
Of the $1 million being credited to the carrier, half acknowledges customer compensation made during the period in question, while the other half will go toward future cash refunds and vouchers issued within the next year. Under its terms, that future compensation must be valued at a minimum of $75 per traveler.
Acknowledging the settlement, JetBlue pointed to investments it has made in the “tens of millions of dollars” over the past two years to reduce flight delays – particularly those related to air traffic control (ATC) challenges in the northeast and Florida, two markets where a controller staffing shortage is most acute. “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 carrier said. It urged the incoming administration to prioritize air traffic control (ATC) modernization and staffing, adding, “we believe accountability for reliable air travel equally lies with the U.S. government, which operates our nation’s air traffic control system.”
The U.S. airline penalty is DOT’s first to be announced in 2025, coming just ahead of a U.S. presidential transition. Under the Biden-Harris administration, DOT has focused on passenger rights rulings, stating that it “has returned a record amount of refunds to travelers, issued the largest fines against airlines for failing passengers, and advanced the biggest expansion of airline consumer rights ever.”
Christine Boynton is a Senior Editor covering air transport in the Americas for Aviation Week Network.