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JetBlue Airways is facing a $2 million fine after a federal government investigation found it “operated multiple chronically delayed flights.”
This is the first time the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined an airline for repeatedly delaying flights. The government condemned the practice, calling it “a prohibited unrealistic scheduling practice that can harm both passengers and fair competition in 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 U.S. Treasury. The other half will be used to compensate passengers affected by chronically delayed flights or any future flight disruptions of three hours or more caused by JetBlue within the next year, the DOT said in its release Friday.
Future damages must be assessed at least $75 for each injured passenger, the DOT said.
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A JetBlue aircraft 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 Friday. “The ministry will enforce the law against airlines with chronic delays or other unrealistic scheduling practices to protect healthy competition in commercial aviation and ensure fair treatment of passengers.”
According to DOT rules, flights are considered chronically delayed if they fly at least 10 times a month and are more than 30 minutes late, more than half the time. Cancellations are included as delays in this calculation, the government said. Consistently delaying a flight for more than four consecutive months is considers it an unrealistic schedule.
After DOT’s investigation, government officials found that JetBlue had four flights 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. There were a total of 395 delays and cancellations on these four chronically delayed flights.
In addition, JetBlue continued to operate three more 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% of the disruptions for the four chronically delayed flights based on data provided by JetBlue to the DOT.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JBLU | JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. | 7.51 | +0.03 |
+0.40% |
According to DOT rules, airlines are given “adequate time to correct their schedule after a flight is chronically delayed to avoid illegal unrealistic scheduling.” However, the DOT said that “JetBlue did not do that.”
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 in the Northeast and Florida over the past two years.
“Through these efforts, we saw significant operational improvements in 2024 including better on-time performance during this year’s peak summer travel season,” the New York-based carrier said.
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Passengers check in their checked bags for JetBlue Airlines at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 16, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
JetBlue went on to say that while it has reached a settlement to resolve the matter regarding four flights in 2022 and 2023, the carrier believes that “the responsibility for reliable air travel rests equally with the US government, which manages our national air traffic control system. ”
JetBlue argued that the new administration should “prioritize the modernization of aging ATC technology” and address “the chronic shortage of air traffic controller staff to reduce the ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers each year.”
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But JetBlue isn’t the only one. The DOT said it is currently investigating other airlines for “unrealistic flight schedules.”
The DOT considers unrealistic flight scheduling a deceptive and anticompetitive practice because it denies passengers reliable information about schedules and “allows airlines to unfairly take business from competitors by misleading consumers.”
