The U.S. Department of Transportation recently penalized JetBlue $2 million for operating multiple chronically delayed flights.
Half the penalty must be paid to the U.S. Treasury while the other half must be used to compensate passengers that either were affected by a chronically delayed flight in the past or will experience a delay of three hours or more, or a flight cancellation, within the next year. Future compensation must be valued at $75 minimum for each affected passenger.
The department conducted an investigation and learned JetBlue operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 and November 2023. The flights were chronically delayed for five or more consecutive months. JetBlue continued to operate chronically delayed flights despite a warning.
“Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality. The department will enforce the law against airlines with chronic delays or unrealistic scheduling practices in order to protect healthy competition and ensure passengers are treated fairly.”
A flight is considered chronically delayed if it is flown at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late more than half the time.