U.S. Fines JetBlue $2 Million for Chronic Flight Delays

The Department of Transportation announced Friday that it would fine JetBlue $2 million for persistent flight delays. The fine marks the first time the department has ever charged an airline for consistent flight disruptions.

The DOT argued that JetBlue has operated “a prohibited unrealistic scheduling practice” due to the delays. Half of the fine will go to JetBlue customers affected by the carrier’s delays or any other disruptions within the next year. The other half will go directly to the U.S. Treasury.

Compensation for future delays would be valued at a minimum of $75 per affected passenger. 

“Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers. Today’s action puts the entire airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.

DOT Puts Airlines on Notice for Chronic Delays

The DOT considers unrealistic scheduling to be an unfair, deceptive and anticompetitive practice. It argues that it not only disrupts customers’ travel plans, but also denies them reliable scheduling information and allows carriers to “unfairly capture business from competitors by misleading consumers.” The department is currently investigating other airlines’ flight schedules. 

A DOT investigation into JetBlue found that the carrier operated four chronically delayed flights between June 2022 and November 2023. Each flight was delayed for five months straight or more, the DOT said.

JetBlue was responsible for over 70% of disruptions on the four chronically delayed flights, according to the DOT. 

The department added that it had warned JetBlue about consistent delays on routes JFK-Raleigh-Durham, Fort Lauderdale-JFK, Orlando-JFK and Fort Lauderdale-Windsor Locks, Connecticut. In total, there were 395 delays and cancellations across these four flights.

The carrier said that it believed the U.S. air traffic control, which has faced a shortage that has led to slot constraints in New York airports, was partly to blame for the delays. 

“We believe accountability for reliable air travel equally lies with the U.S. government, which operates our nation’s air traffic control system,” JetBlue said in a statement. “We urge the incoming administration to prioritize modernizing outdated ATC technology and addressing chronic air traffic controller staffing shortages to reduce ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers each year.”

The most recent Air Travel Consumer Report from the DOT found that JetBlue had one of the lowest percentages of on-time flights among major U.S. carriers in November, with only Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines reporting lower numbers.