US Department Of Transportation Fines JetBlue $2 Million For ‘Chronic Delays’ And ‘Unrealistic Scheduling’
The US Department of Transportation has fined JetBlue Airways $2 million due to delayed flights and unrealistic scheduling. This is the first time the department has penalized an airline for delays specifically, according to reports from CNN.
The DOT said that $1 million of the fine will go to JetBlue customers that are impacted by delays or disruptions to their flights within the next year.
The other half of the fine will go directly to the US Treasury, the airline owes $500,000 of that fine within the next 60 days, and the other half due within one year from when the first payment is made.
The department also said it “has investigations into other airlines for unrealistic flight schedules.”
“The department will enforce the law against airlines with chronic delays or other unrealistic scheduling practices in order to protect healthy competition in commercial aviation and ensure passengers are treated fairly,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
DOT rules that a flight is “chronically delayed” if it has been flown at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late more than half the time.
Between June 2022 and November 2023 the Department found that JetBlue had operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times. Each flight was delayed for five months in a row or more.
Specifically, the department called out flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Raleigh-Durham.
A JetBlue spokesperson said in a statement that “the airline appreciates how important it is for passengers to arrive at their destinations on-time, and that it works hard to operate its flights as scheduled.”
“While we’ve reached a settlement to resolve this matter regarding four flights in 2022 and 2023, we believe accountability for reliable air travel equally lies with the U.S. government, which operates our nation’s air traffic control system,” the statement read.
“We believe the U.S. should have the safest, most efficient, and advanced air traffic control system in the world, and we urge the incoming administration to prioritize modernizing outdated ATC technology and addressing chronic air traffic controller staffing shortages to reduce ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers each year.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
