The Transportation Department announced on Friday that it will impose a $2 million fine on JetBlue Airways due to its persistent flight delays along the East Coast. Half of the penalty will be allocated to reimburse passengers affected by these delays.
This action marks the first instance where the agency has penalized an airline specifically for ongoing delays on designated routes, attributing the issue to JetBlue’s “unrealistic scheduling.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that chronic flight delays undermine the reliability of air travel for passengers. He emphasized that this measure serves as a warning to the entire airline industry that schedules must accurately represent operational realities.
JetBlue has countered this allegation by asserting that the government, which manages the air traffic control system, should also be held accountable for the tardiness of flights. Airline representative Derek Dombrowski noted that JetBlue has dedicated millions of dollars to address flight delays, particularly those stemming from air traffic control issues prevalent in its major Northeast and Florida locations. According to him, these investments have led to improved performance in flight timeliness for the coming year, including during the busy summer season.
Dombrowski further commented that while a settlement has been reached regarding the four routes in question from 2022 and 2023, the responsibility for ensuring reliable air travel lies equally with the U.S. government, which oversees the air traffic control system. He urged the incoming administration to focus on upgrading outdated air traffic control technologies and addressing staffing shortages among controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The regulations set forth by the Transportation Department prevent airlines from advertising flight schedules that do not accurately reflect actual departure and arrival times. A flight is classified as chronically delayed if it operates at least ten times a month and has a tardiness rate exceeding 30 minutes more than half the time. The department highlighted particular JetBlue routes that faced issues from June 2022 to November 2023, including flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, as well as from JFK to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, and from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to Fort Lauderdale.
