Topline
The Transportation Department accused Southwest Airlines of operating “chronically delayed flights,” marking the latest action against a major airline for late flights after the department fined JetBlue Airways over the issue early this month.
The delays at the heart of the lawsuit date back to 2022. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Key Facts
The lawsuit specifically alleges Southwest Airlines flights from Chicago to Oakland, California and from Baltimore to Cleveland reached their destinations late nearly 200 times in 2022.
The Transportation Department considers a “chronically delayed flight” a deceptive business violation and defines it as a flight flown at least 10 times a month that arrives more than 30 minutes late more than 50% of the time, with cancellations and diversions included in the calculation of chronically delayed flights.
The lawsuit claims Southwest was responsible for over 90% of the delayed flights, rather than weather or other issues out of the company’s control.
Southwest Airlines told Forbes it was disappointed that the lawsuit concerns flights operated more than two years ago and claimed that since the Transportation Department issued its chronically delayed flight policy in 2009, the airline has operated “more than 20 million flights with no other CDF violations.”
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Crucial Quote
“Any claim that these two flights represent an unrealistic schedule is simply not credible when compared with our performance over the past 15 years,” Southwest told Forbes. “In 2024, Southwest led the industry by completing more than 99% of its flights without cancellation.”
Tangent
The Transportation Department also announced $650,000 in civil penalties against Frontier Airlines on Wednesday, citing chronically delayed flights. $325,000 will be paid to the U.S. Treasury while the remainder can be suspended if Frontier does not operate more chronically delayed flights in the next three years.
Key Background
The lawsuit against Southwest and fine against Frontier comes less than two weeks after JetBlue was fined $2 million over delays on four routes from 2022 to 2023. The Transportation Department said JetBlue was responsible for more than 70% of the disruptions and vowed to credit JetBlue $1 million for compensation already paid to passengers during the investigation into the delays. The fines are part of a larger regulatory crackdown in the waning days of the Biden administration, which has made an 11th hour push against several industries like Big Tech and credit lending that has included lawsuits, investigations into business practices and federal policy changes favoring consumers.
Further Reading
American Airlines Fined Record $50 Million For Mistreating Disabled Passengers (Forbes)
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