DOT fines JetBlue for ‘chronically delayed flights’

The Department of Transportation fined JetBlue Airways $2 million for “chronically delayed flights,” the first penalty of its kind, the DOT said Friday.

JetBlue operated four routes that were delayed at least 145 times from June 2022 through November 2023, the DOT said. Those were between JetBlue’s home hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina; between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida, and JFK, and between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Windsor Locks, Connecticut, according to the DOT.

“Today’s action puts the entire airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a news release.

JetBlue was responsible for more than 70% of the disruptions on the four routes, the DOT said. The airline failed to adjust the flight times “to avoid illegal unrealistic scheduling,” the department added.

The DOT considers a flight chronically delayed if it is flown at least 10 times a month and arrives over 30 minutes late more than half the time. It said it has ongoing investigations into other airlines for unrealistic flight schedules.

JetBlue said in a statement the government has to do more to improve staffing of air traffic controllers and modernize the system, echoing calls from executives at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and other major carriers.

“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,” JetBlue said in its statement. “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and advanced air traffic control system in the world, and we urge the incoming administration to prioritize modernizing outdated ATC technology and addressing chronic air traffic controller staffing shortages to reduce ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers each year.”

Based in New York, JetBlue operates in some of the world’s most congested airspace. From January through September 2024, JetBlue ranked ninth out of 10 U.S. airlines in on-time arrivals with 71.3% of flights arriving on time, an improvement over 64.9% in the year-earlier period, according to a monthly DOT tally.

The DOT said it would credit JetBlue $1 million of the fine for goodwill compensation already paid to passengers during the investigation’s time frame as well as for compensation that is payable within a year of the order with vouchers to affected passengers paid at at least $75.