JetBlue hit with $2M fine for chronic flight delays in first-of-its-kind crackdown
- The U.S. Department of Transportation fined JetBlue $2 million for persistent flight delays, the first such penalty for unrealistic scheduling.
- The DOT found JetBlue operated four routes with delays exceeding 30 minutes at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023.
- JetBlue must pay $1 million to the Treasury and use the other $1 million to compensate affected passengers.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has imposed a $2 million penalty on JetBlue Airways for operating multiple chronically delayed flights, marking the department's first-ever enforcement action against an airline for unrealistic scheduling.
The fine addresses flights that consistently arrived more than 30 minutes late over several consecutive months, a practice the Transportation Department says misleads passengers and distorts competition in the airline industry. The investigation revealed JetBlue operated four chronically delayed routes at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023.
“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,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “The department will enforce the law against airlines with chronic delays or other unrealistic scheduling practices in order to protect healthy competition in commercial aviation and ensure passengers are treated fairly.”
JetBlue’s delayed routes included flights between New York’s JFK Airport and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, as well as routes connecting Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Orlando, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and JFK.
Under the penalty, JetBlue must pay $1 million to the U.S. Treasury and use the remaining $1 million to compensate passengers. Customers will receive at least $75 if they experience any future JetBlue delays of three hours or more within the next year.
"We appreciate how important it is to our customers to arrive to their destinations on-time and work very hard to operate our flights as scheduled," JetBlue said in a statement. "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. 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."
The airline also highlighted that over the past two years, it has invested "tens of millions of dollars to reduce flight delays, particularly related to ongoing air traffic control (ATC) challenges in our largest markets in the Northeast and Florida."
The enforcement is part of a broader crackdown on airline practices under the Biden administration. The Transportation Department has rolled out new rules to improve passenger protections, including automatic cash refunds for significant delays and bans on surprise junk fees.
The Transportation Department also is investigating other airlines for similar scheduling practices.