The U.S. Department of Transportation has come down on JetBlue’s scheduling practices, hitting the airline with a $2 million fine for four routes the government says have been chronically delayed. It’s the first time an airline has been fined for unrealistic scheduling.
DOT defines ‘chronically delayed’ as any route that’s arrived more than 30 minutes late repeatedly over a period of months. In JetBlue’s case, the department cited 145 delays on the routes between June 2022 and November 2023. The routes include routes between New York JFK and Raleigh-Durham as well as routes connecting Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, JFK and Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
The problem is not necessarily limited to JetBlue, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who issued a statement saying “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.”
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.
