JetBlue Faces Multimillion-Dollar Fine Over Flight Delays

JetBlue made history this week — though perhaps not in the way the airline’s management would have liked. For the first time in history, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a fine to a commercial airline for, in the agency’s words, “chronic flight delays.” Half of the $2 million fine will be used to compensate passengers affected by the flight delays that drew the DoT’s ire and to provide relief for travelers in a similar position in 2025.

In a statement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described these fines as a first step in holding airlines accountable for the accuracy of their schedules. “Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers,” Buttigieg said. “Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality.”

The Department of Transportation defines chronically delayed flights as those that are “flown at least 10 times a month and [arrive] more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time.” The agency pointed to four routes specifically during a period beginning in June 2022 and ending in November 2023. The routes included three between JFK and Raleigh-Durham, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, as well as a route connecting Fort Lauderdale and Windsor Locks, located just north of Hartford.

According to the Department of Transportation, the agency notified JetBlue about these delays. They also calculated that JetBlue “was responsible for over 70 percent of the disruptions” and did not take the necessary steps to address its flight scheduling issues.

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In comments shared with the Associated Press, JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski stated that the airline had invested millions of dollars in system upgrades, resulting in better results for 2024. “[W]e believe accountability for reliable air travel equally lies with the U.S. government, which operates our nation’s air traffic control system,” Dombrowski said. He went on to call for upgrades to the system in question, as well as for the hiring of more air traffic controllers.