Federal regulators accused the U.S. airline of running several flight routes with persistent delays, and JetBlue agreed to pay a $2 million fine.
For the first time, an airline has been penalized by the U.S. Department of Transportation for using irrational scheduling techniques that it claims will hurt passengers and fair competition in the airline sector.
Within the next year, half of the fine will be used to reimburse JetBlue passengers who were impacted by the airline’s frequent delays or any additional interruptions, with a minimum of $75 awarded for each injured traveler.
Travelers find flying unreliable due to illegal, ongoing flight delays. In a statement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated, “Today’s action puts the airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality.” To preserve healthy competition and guarantee that passengers are treated fairly, the department will enforce the law against airlines that engage in unreasonable scheduling practices or persistent delays.
According to the department, it is currently looking into other airlines for having irrational flight schedules.
According to the International Air Transport Association, JetBlue had the seventh-worst on-time rate among North American carriers last year, behind only Frontier Airlines, Air Canada, and WestJet, a Canadian airline.
According to the transportation department’s study, JetBlue was accountable for around 80% of the interruptions on four routes that were consistently delayed.
JetBlue stated in a statement that it has spent tens of millions of dollars to cut down on flight delays, which were partly caused by persistent air traffic control issues in its biggest markets in Florida and the Northeast that it claimed were beyond its control.
“While we ve reached a settlement to resolve this matter regarding four flights in 2022 and 2023, we believe accountability for reliable air travel equally lies with the U.S. government, which operates our nation s air traffic control system,” read the statement. “We believe the U.S. should have the safest, most efficient, and advanced air traffic control system in the world, and we urge the incoming administration to prioritize modernizing outdated ATC technology and addressing chronic air traffic controller staffing shortages to reduce ATC delays that affect millions of air travelers each year.”
A proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines was halted by a federal judge last year on the grounds that it would harm customers. Another federal judge said in 2023 that American Airlines and JetBlue had to terminate their Northeast alliance since it was also considered anticompetitive.
The value of JetBlue’s stock has dropped by around half in the last five years.
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