Jet Blue agrees to pay $2 million for chronic flight delays

Are you a JetBlue customer? Have you experienced delayed flights? If so, you may be getting some money.

JetBlue has agreed to pay a $2 million penalty for operating chronically delayed flights, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday.

The penalty is the first time DOT has fined an airline for chronic flight delays. Half of the penalty will go to compensate JetBlue customers affected by the airline’s chronic delays or any future disruptions caused by JetBlue within the next year.

“Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers,” DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “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.”

DOT rules prohibit airlines from promising unrealistic schedules that don’t reflect actual flight departure and arrival times. Chronically delaying a flight for more than four consecutive months is one form of unrealistic scheduling. Under DOT rules, a flight is chronically delayed if it’s flown at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time.

DOT’s investigation found that JetBlue operated four chronically delayed flights at least 145 times between June 2022 through November 2023. Each flight was chronically delayed for five months in a row or more.

Despite DOT warning JetBlue about the chronic delays on its flight between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, the airline continued to operate three more chronically delayed flights between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida, and JFK and between Fort Lauderdale and Windsor Locks, Connecticut, according to the DOT investigation.  

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates, based on data submitted to DOT by JetBlue, that the airline was responsible for more 70 percent of the disruptions for the four chronically delayed flights. Regardless of the cause of the disruption for any specific flight, DOT rules provide airlines adequate time to fix their schedule after a flight becomes chronically delayed to avoid illegal unrealistic scheduling. JetBlue failed to do so, the agency said. 

It's been great to see DOT acting on behalf of consumers on a number of issues. It’s unlikely this action will continue under the Trump administration.