by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 11:05 AM ET, Fri January 3, 2025
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is fining JetBlue $2 million in a first-ever penalty for what it considers to have been “chronically” delayed flights.
Half of the penalty will go to compensate JetBlue customers affected by the airline’s delays or any future delays within the next year. Those affected will receive at least $75 for the delays. The other half of the penalty will go straight to the U.S. Treasury.
The DOT rules prohibit airlines from making unrealistic flight schedules that they cannot actually carry out, calling it 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.”
Under the rules, a flight is chronically delayed if it's flown at least 10 times a month and arrives over half an hour later more than 50 percent of the time. JetBlue operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023, with each flight being chronically delayed for at least five months in a row.
Some of these routes included the one between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Raleigh-Durham, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando as well as the route between Fort Lauderdale and Windsor Locks. According to the DOT, the airline was culpable for 70 percent of the disruptions.
“Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers. 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.”
The DOT under Secretary Buttigieg's leadership has expanded travelers' rights and held airlines accountable when they've failed. Just in December alone, the department expanded disabled travelers' rights and issued a proposed rule that would require airlines to provide passengers with compensation, free flights and overnight accommodation when the airline causes a travel disruption.
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