The Transportation Department announced Friday that it would penalize JetBlue Airways for its chronically delayed flights along the East Coast with a penalty of $2 million. Half the money will be given to the passengers who were late.
JetBlue’s “unrealistic” scheduling was blamed by the agency for the delays.
Illegal chronic flight delays are making flying unsafe for passengers. “Today’s action sends a clear message to the airline industry that we expect them to update their flight schedules in line with reality,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He has been the first department to criticize airlines for their poor service and increased fees.
JetBlue says the government, which operates the air traffic system, is also responsible for the lateness of flights.
Airline spokesperson Derek Dombrowski stated that JetBlue had invested “tens and millions of dollars” to reduce flight delay, especially related to ongoing air-traffic control challenges in their largest markets, in the Northeast and Florida. This investment will result in improved on-time performance by 2024, even during the busy summer travel season.
“While we have reached an agreement to resolve this issue regarding four routes in 2022 and 2023, we believe that the U.S. Government, which operates our country’s air traffic system, is equally responsible for ensuring reliable air travel,” Dombrowski stated. He said that the new Trump administration should focus on modernizing the “outdated” technology of air traffic control and the understaffing among controllers who are employed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Regulations of the Transportation Department prohibit airlines from publishing schedules that do not reflect actual departure and arrival times. A flight is considered chronically late if it arrives at least 30 minutes behind schedule more than 50% of the time and runs more than 10 times per month.
The department gave JetBlue flights from June 2022 to November 2023. The department said that it had warned JetBlue of frequent delays between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Raleigh-Durham International Airport, North Carolina. There were also frequent delays on flights between JFK, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Florida, and Windsor Locks, Connecticut to Fort Lauderdale.
