The U.S. Department of Transportation has taken legal action against two more airlines for chronically late flights, in one case with a lawsuit and in the other with a sizable fine.
The lawsuit is against Southwest; Frontier was hit with a $650,000 fine. Two weeks ago, DOT took the first action ever against an airline for delayed flights and unrealistic scheduling, hitting JetBlue with a $2 million fine. DOT said that half of Frontier’s fine will be forgiven if there are no further violations for the next three years. DOT didn’t explain why it is suing one airline while fining others.
The lawsuit filed against Southwest Airlines charges the carrier with “illegally operating multiple chronically delayed flights.” The suit says that two routes were delayed a total of 180 times between April and August 2022, meaning nearly five straight months of delays. DOT defines flights as ‘chronically delayed’ if they operate at least 10 times a month and arrive more than 30 minutes late half or more of the time.
The routes are one between Chicago’s Midway and Oakland International Airport in California, and one between BWI and Cleveland. DOT says the airline was responsible for more than 90% of the delays on the routes, rather than a cause outside of its control such as inclement weather.
“Airlines have a legal obligation to ensure that their flight schedules provide travelers with realistic departure and arrival times,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Today’s action sends a message to all airlines that the Department is prepared to go to court in order to enforce passenger protections.”
