1 week Ago By Anthony Blair
JETBLUE Airways is being hit with a massive $2 million fine over repeatedly late flights along the East Coast. At least half of the settlement will go to passengers affected by delays, with each customer receiving at least $75. The remaining $1 million will be paid in cash to the US Treasury.
The fine, the first of its kind issued for chronic delays on specific routes, was down to what the Transportation Department called "unrealistic scheduling" by JetBlue . Chronic delays are defined by the Transportation Administration as flights that run at least 10 times a month and arrive over 30 minutes late more than half the time. The four routes cited for frequent flight delays are between New York's JFK and Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina, JFK and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, JFK and Orlando Florida, and between Windsor Locks in Connecticut and Fort Lauderdale.
MORE ON JETBLUE AIRWAYS But bosses at the NYC-based airline have accused the government of sharing the blame for the flight chaos. A JetBlue spokesperson called on the incoming Trump administration to prioritize modernizing "outdated" air traffic control technology. Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the fine, saying his department has led the Biden administration in criticizing airlines for poor service and increasing passenger fees.
"Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers," he said. Most read in Money "Today’s action puts the entire airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality." JetBlue blamed the government for its poor operation of the air traffic control system for flight delays.
Airline spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said the company had invested "tens of millions of dollars to reduce flight delays, particularly related to ongoing air traffic control challenges in our largest markets in the Northeast and Florida." He added that this investment had resulted in fewer delays this year including during the peak summer travel season. "While we’ve reached a settlement to resolve this matter regarding four (routes) in 2022 and 2023, we believe accountability for reliable air travel equally lies with the US government, which operates our nation’s air traffic control system," Dombrowski said.
It comes a week after JetBlue was slammed when a Boston Logan-bound flight from Turks and Caicos was delayed by more than 24 hours. Passengers were left stranded in the Caribbean resort with no accommodation. Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers Between January and September last year, about 71% of JetBlue's flights were on time, according to the Transportation Department.
The airline was ranked second to last in on-time performance of the largest domestic airlines. Frontier Airlines came last out of the ten listed. Read More on The US Sun During that same time period, more than 9% of JetBlue's flights were delays caused by the airline, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The airline has scrapped several underperforming routes in recent months, including services departing New York for both Houston and Miami. Passengers of any airline will now get automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights. The new rule by the Department of Transportation requires airlines to automatically refund passengers is their flight is canceled or delayed by more than three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international flights.
The refunds are applied if travelers "do not accept the significantly changed flight, rebooking on an alternative flight, or alternative compensation," the DOT said. Passengers will also get automatic refunds if they have significantly delayed baggage returns or if ancillary services aren't provided. If the customer bought their ticket on a credit card, the refunds are set to come within seven business days.
Passengers who bought their tickets with another form of payment will get their money back within 20 calendar days..
