The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday introduced a $2 million high quality in opposition to JetBlue for “working a number of chronically delayed flights,” marking the primary such penalty by the company.
Airlines are prohibited from providing unrealistic schedules that do not mirror precise flight departure and arrival occasions, but an investigation by the DOT discovered that JetBlue operated 4 chronically delayed flights no less than 145 occasions between June 2022 by means of November 2023, in accordance with the DOT.
An investigation by the company discovered that the airline was chargeable for greater than 70% of the chronically delayed flights.
The service should pay half the penalty in money to the U.S. Treasury, with the opposite $1 million going to compensate JetBlue passengers harmed by the delayed flights or any future flights. The future compensation should be a minimal of $75 for every affected passenger.
“Illegal persistent flight delays make flying unreliable for vacationers. Today’s motion places the whole airline trade on discover that we anticipate their flight schedules to mirror actuality,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned in a press release. “The division will implement the regulation in opposition to airways with persistent delays or different unrealistic scheduling practices with a view to shield wholesome competitors in business aviation and guarantee passengers are handled pretty.”
JetBlue mentioned it had invested tens of tens of millions of {dollars} to cut back flight delays over the previous two years, and had seen vital enhancements in 2024.
“While we have reached a settlement to resolve this matter concerning 4 flights in 2022 and 2023, we consider accountability for dependable air journey equally lies with the U.S. authorities, which operates our nation’s air site visitors management system,” a spokesperson mentioned.
