The Transportation Division introduced on Friday a $2 million penalty in opposition to JetBlue Airways for working a number of flights on the East Coast that chronically arrived late in 2022 and 2023. Half of the cash collected will go to the impacted passengers.
The penalty is the primary time that the D.O.T. has fined an airline for power delays, which the federal company defines as flights which are flown at the very least 10 instances a month that arrive greater than a half-hour late greater than 50 p.c of the time.
“Unlawful power flight delays make flying unreliable for vacationers. Right this moment’s motion places the whole airline trade on discover that we anticipate their flight schedules to mirror actuality,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned in an announcement.
The D.O.T. mentioned it had warned JetBlue about persistent delays on its flights between Kennedy Worldwide Airport and Raleigh-Durham Worldwide Airport in North Carolina. It added that carriers have a “obligation to keep away from power delays” and that these flights for months was unfair and misleading.
The 4 routes below scrutiny flew between J.F.Ok. and Raleigh-Durham Airport; J.F.Ok. and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Worldwide Airport in Florida; J.F.Ok. and Orlando Worldwide Airport; and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport and Bradley Worldwide Airport in Connecticut. Between June 2022 and November 2023, the flights had been chronically delayed 5 months in a row. Greater than 70 p.c of the disruptions for these flights had been attributable to the airline, in response to estimates from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
“The division will implement the regulation in opposition to airways with power delays or different unrealistic scheduling practices in an effort to defend wholesome competitors in business aviation and guarantee passengers are handled pretty,” Mr. Buttigieg mentioned.
Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, mentioned in an announcement that the airline had invested tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to scale back flight delays during the last two years and had seen “vital operational enhancements.” Mr. Dombrowski additionally mentioned that air site visitors management points had contributed to the airline’s operational challenges within the Northeast and Florida.
Final week, JetBlue made headlines when a flight from Turks and Caicos certain for Boston was delayed greater than 24 hours, stranding passengers with no lodging.
From January to September of final yr, about 71 p.c of JetBlue’s flights had been on time, in response to information from the Transportation Division, and the provider was ranked second to final in on-time efficiency of the biggest 10 home airways (Frontier Airways was in final place). Throughout this similar time interval, greater than 9 p.c of JetBlue’s flights had been delays attributable to the airline, in response to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
