Over the past two weeks, the Department of Transportation has taken actions against several airlines for what the Department refers to as “chronically delayed flights,” suggesting violations of consumer protections. According to DOT, the airlines are effectively misleading customers as to the actual times of the flights, because these flights so infrequently depart at those scheduled times. DOT explains that, “When an airline knows that a particular flight is consistently late, it is essential that the airline adjusts its schedule,” rather than continuing ” to market its flights using unrealistic schedules.:
DOT defines a chronically delayed flight as one that is flown at least 10 times a month and arrives late more than 50% of the time. In a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, the agency points to one flight that was, on average, over an hour late on 19 of 25 flights in April 2022, and on average over 80 minutes late on 16 out of 27 flights the following month.
The agency was able to reach consent agreements as to fines with Frontier Airlines and JetBlue, but apparently not with Southwest, leading to a suit in California District Court
