A lawsuit filed by the Biden administration’s Department of
Transportation in January 2025 against Southwest
Airlines for its chronically delayed flights was dropped on May 16,
according to Reuters.
USDOT accused the carrier of illegally operating unrealistic
schedules for five months in 2022 resulting in chronically delayed flights disrupting
passengers’ travel and should be required to pay civil penalties. The Justice
Department joined the suit.
The chronically delayed flights occurred between Chicago
Midway and Oakland, California and the other between Baltimore and Cleveland.
Under USDOT rules, a flight is chronically delayed if flown at least ten times
a month and arriving more than 30 minutes late at least 50 percent of the time.
Southwest said that it had operated more than 20 million flights with no other
violations.
In 2023, Southwest launched a compensation program that
provided $90 million in travel vouchers of $75 or more to passengers experiencing
at least three-hour delays because of an airline-caused issue or cancellation.
USDOT did not immediately comment, however Southwest said in
a statement, “The two flights at issue occurred years ago when the industry
faced unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and were delayed due
to issues outside of Southwest’s control in numerous cases.”
Under the Biden administration in 2025, Reuters reported that two other carriers
faced civil penalties for chronically delayed flights.
Frontier
Airlines was fined $650,000 and required to pay $325,000, the remainder to
be paid if the carrier operated any chronically delayed flights over the next
three years.
A $2
million penalty was imposed against JetBlue Airways, resulting in a $1
million paid fine, providing a minimum of $75 in passenger vouchers for future
three-hour or more flight delays or cancellations.
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