The Division of Transportation mentioned the positive for the low-cost provider was the primary issued on account of continual flight delays.
For the primary time, the U.S. Division of Transportation (DOT) has fined a passenger airline for “continual flight delays.”
On Jan. 3, the DOT introduced a $2 million penalty towards JetBlue Airways Corp.
“Right this moment’s motion places the airline business on discover that we anticipate their flight schedules to mirror actuality,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned within the launch.
In an announcement shared with The Epoch Instances, JetBlue mentioned it really works “very onerous to function our flights as scheduled.”
It went on to say it has invested “tens of tens of millions of {dollars}” to cut back flight delays. It blamed the issue on the dearth of air visitors controllers within the Northeastern U.S. and Florida.
“We imagine accountability for dependable air journey equally lies with the U.S. authorities, which operates our nation’s air visitors management system,” the JetBlue assertion mentioned.
“We urge the incoming administration to prioritize modernizing outdated [air traffic control] know-how and addressing continual air visitors controller staffing shortages to cut back [air traffic control] delays that have an effect on tens of millions of air vacationers every year.”
A Jan. 3 DOT assertion mentioned it issued an order requiring JetBlue to stop and desist its continual flight delays and pay a $2 million penalty. Half of the penalty have to be paid in money on to the U.S. Treasury.
The opposite half will go to “compensate JetBlue passengers harmed by both the chronically delayed flights coated by the DOT’s order or any future flight cancellations or delays of three hours or extra brought on by JetBlue throughout the subsequent yr,” the discharge mentioned.
The division’s investigation discovered the chronically delayed flights related: John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) in New York and Raleigh-Durham Worldwide Airport in Morrisville, North Carolina; Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Worldwide Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Orlando Worldwide Airport in Orlando, Florida (MCO); JFK and MCO and MCO and Bradley Worldwide Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
The discharge highlighted current rulemaking by the DOT underneath the Biden administration. Based on the discharge, these guidelines represent the “greatest enlargement of airline shopper rights ever.”
In November, the heads of main passenger airways publicly commented on their hopes that the DOT would take a brand new regulatory strategy within the forthcoming Trump administration.
The penalty shouldn’t considerably have an effect on JetBlue financially.
When the corporate final launched its quarterly earnings on Oct. 29, 2024, it reported bringing in about $2.2 billion in income within the third quarter of 2024.
However, the corporate’s Securities and Change Fee submitting mentioned it recorded a internet lack of $60 million in the identical quarter.
By means of the primary three quarters of 2024, JetBlue has recorded a internet lack of $751 million. That may be a important enhance from the online lack of $207 million it suffered within the first three quarters of 2023.