Usdot Sues Southwest Airlines Over ‘chronically Delayed’ Flights

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is suing Southwest Airlines for “illegally operating aggregate chronically delayed flights and disrupting passengers’ travel,” according to a spot release.

The USDOT’s investigation recovered that “Southwest operated 2 chronically delayed flights — 1 betwixt Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, Calif, and different betwixt Baltimore, Md. and Cleveland, Ohio — that resulted successful 180 statement disruptions for passengers betwixt April and August 2022,” per nan release. “Each statement was chronically delayed for 5 consecutive months.”

A statement is considered chronically delayed if “it is flown astatine slightest 10 times a play and arrives overmuch than 30 minutes precocious overmuch than 50 percent of nan time,” nan USDOT says.

“Southwest is disappointed that DOT chose to grounds a suit complete 2 flights that occurred overmuch than 2 years ago,” Southwest spokesperson Laura Swift says successful a relationship to The Verge. “Since DOT issued its Chronically Delayed Flight (CDF) argumentation successful 2009, Southwest has operated overmuch than 20 cardinal flights pinch nary different CDF violations. Any state that these 2 flights correspond an unrealistic schedule is simply not reliable erstwhile compared pinch our capacity complete nan past 15 years. In 2024, Southwest led nan manufacture by completing overmuch than 99% of its flights without cancellation.”

In addition, nan USDOT is taking “enforcement action” against Frontier Airlines for operating chronically delayed flights. USDOT has fined Frontier $650,000 successful civilian penalties; nan US Treasury will beryllium paid $325,000, while nan different $325,000 will beryllium suspended if Frontier “does not tally immoderate chronically delayed flights successful nan adjacent 3 years,” nan USDOT says.

Frontier Airlines spokesperson Jennifer F. de la Cruz declined to comment.

Earlier this month, USDOT announced a $2 cardinal reward against JetBlue for operating chronically delayed flights. The USDOT too fined Southwest Airlines successful 2023 complete a picnic meltdown that stranded millions successful 2022.