JetBlue Fined For Chronic Flight Delays, A First-Ever DOT Penalty

Around a decade ago I had a JetBlue flight booked that ended up leaving around 3-4 hours late, and I got a flight credit which I used to book another JetBlue flight a few months later. That flight was also delayed, resulting in another flight credit. That credit ended up being used on (you guessed it) another delayed flight. I think I ended up getting four round-trip JetBlue flights for the price of one when it was all said and done. As a poor college student, the delays were annoying, but the savings were worth it. I doubt I'd feel the same way today.

I flew on JetBlue for the first time in many years, as I had no other option. It was like going back to 2012 in every way. I really hope they turn things around as they are most convenient for me in terms of schedules and routes.

The government is slow in doing alot of things but they also often allow part of a fine to be waived if a company has made progress in addressing the reason for the fine; that is often the case with handling of disabilities.

JBLU's former management was too busy chasing a host of initiatives to focus on the core operation and that is why the DOT had to act. Other airlines have addressed chronic underperformance in the same markets or congested airports.

FLL and NYC airports are operationally very challenging and require having resources available to get flights back on time when things fall apart - as they often do. Operational reliability is costly but it is the cost of not falling below the line in being unreliable.

Plus, this DOT's leadership is out of a job in a couple weeks.

It shouldn't be a surprise if there are a few more of these types of announcements from DC.

Finally some action. Brilliant news! Hopefully this is followed by similar fines for other airlines (although honestly nobody is screwing up as much as B6 on a regular basis).

So glad Jet Blue got fined for this. I really like the statement "unrealistic scheduling is an unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive practice, that disrupts passengers’ travel plans, denies them reliable scheduling information, and allows airlines to unfairly capture business from competitors by misleading consumers."

So true. I think we need even more scrutiny on these issues to ensure a fair and competitive airline market.

When people say JetBlue, my immediate association is delays. I have so so many stories of being comically delayed on JetBlue flights. I once watched an entire movie laying in a Mint throne seat while sitting at the gate at JFK. I have flown their SJU>DCA route at least 10 times, and I do not believe I have ever once taken off on time. I recently considered a 7am flight with them and thought "yeah but 7am JetBlue isn't terrible - that's more like 8:30-9 in practice..."

So then I assume B6 can fine the DOT for its chronic understaffing resulting in: excess vectoring (fuel burn) for reduced arrival rates, longer routing due to sector closures, delays for ATC staffing and the list goes on.
DOT and Mayor Pete: take care of your own house before casting blame onto the airlines who are saddled with your ineptitude !

I'll add myself to the chorus as another person who really likes the JetBlue passenger experience but has also been frustrated by these delays, so this fine seems fair. The last three times I've flown JetBlue have been returning home after flying different airlines outbound, which underscores this point. If I have to get somewhere on time, I'll fly a different airline, but if I'm coming home and can afford a delay I'll roll the dice with B6.

Making excuses for this flaming turd of an airline does not become you.

Doesn’t sound like you’re from the US. Government accountability comes from the ballot box and these guys will be gone in a couple of weeks. B6 should get its act together.

Are you “that” Mayor Pete???

I know B6 has a terrible reputation for on-time issues. However I fly them fairly regularly, always LAX to JFK (and previously LAX to EWR when they ran that route as well) and LAX to BOS, and literally only once in roughly a decade of flying did I encounter a flight delay. It honestly feels like people are talking about an entirely different airline when they complain about flight delays and B6, even though I know the data is accurate. Are transcons just that different? Does anyone have stats on B6 transcon flight reliability? In my experience, it's exceptionally reliable and I truly love B6.

@MexPilot, how is it that other airlines are able to figure out how to reliably operate in this environment and JetBlue can not?

Had some family fly B6 this weekend. Flight got slightly delayed early in the day and they asked to change to a different flight. CS said not without a big change fee. They kept the same flight and it got delayed more. Always makes me scratch my head how the airlines don’t want to just get folks home by the time the day of travel comes around. Wonder if that will change that they are now actually on the hook to these customers for when it goes south.

Bob,
As you know, B6 operates many of its transcon flights on A321s with Mint which do not rotate to/from Florida which is where the DOT noted all 4 of these chronically delayed flights operated.
yes, B6 does have much better on-time on its Mint aircraft than on its aircraft that serve the Caribbean and east coast.

The DOT tracks reasons for delays and the percentage of delays due to ATC is less than 1% of all flights across all airlines. Long ATC delays on the east coast often spiral into late arriving aircraft delays and those are delays for which the DOT holds airlines responsible. Airlines need to pull other aircraft and crew into service to stop cascading delays and it is likely because B6 did not break the delays that is these 4 flights were delayed so often.

Also, when ATC delays are put in place by the FAA, they typically start with the smallest region of the country necessary to slow the flow of traffic into the US. Weather can change alot in the 5 hours a flight takes to cross the US so ATC delays in the NE that are applied to the west coast typically involves severe weather issues which the FAA does not expect to resolve within the calendar day or that the accumulation of delays will take all day to resolve.

Note also that the US and Canada cooperate on ATC delays for either country but most international flights into the US are not subject to US ATC delays at their origins.

Ben is right that the current B6 mgmt is addressing these problems but either the DOT doesn't think they are moving fast enough or they are exacting revenge now because they can and want to set an example with B6 for the rest of the industry. As Ben notes, this is new territory for the DOT and the US airline industry.

Just curious, can JetBlue solve the issue by consistently padding/overscheduling the amount of time needed to fly a flight and arrive at gate? Such that the actual time needed is often shorter than the timetable time? Does the DOT care the other direction?

I would guess not, as long as the flight arrives by the officially stated time, even if it has spent 30 min on ground waiting for arrival gate.

Overall B6 has been noticeably better since last spring, but I do LGA/JFK - FLL and JFK-LAX fairly regularly and it really is a night and day difference between the Florida runs and the transcons. As Tim points out, its partially due to the way the mint fleet is utilized, but I'm sure its also the number of flights B6 was trying to push onto a particular frame in a day. An A321mint might just go back and forth between LAX and JFK one round trip in a day. An A320 based in FLL might make 4, 5 even 6 round trips to the North East or Caribbean in a day. That presents a lot more opportunity for things to snowball.

6 flights, not round trips...

Jetblue mint is my favorite domestic method of flying. The others are far behind imo. But I have to agree and evey time I do a jetblue survey I mention delays as an issue. Though I have not had atrocious delays of 4+ hours or cancelation which I have experienced with other airlines, it does seem like a chronic issue with jetblue being an hour late. We'll see if anything comes of this. It's clearly just a warning shot, $2m is not that much. Whether the next administration will actually care is another story.

I often like taking evening flights after work. However, I recently learned the risk of this courtesy of JetBlue. My 8pm flight kept getting pushed back such that our 11pm arrival became 4am. Considering operational reliability will be an important future consideration.

I believe someone at the DOT/ DOJ has a vendetta against JetBlue. My theory is either someone in the government worked for jetBlue and got fired or someone at JetBlue slept with a government official wife! 😀

How wonderful that the government, who is paid by taxpayers, is finally doing something for taxpayers.

Everyone impacted is getting $35 in cold hard cash.

Bravo

Thanks for your helpful and informative reply. I just find it odd that B6 transcon seems to be an entirely different airline than B6 East Coast. As an exclusively transcon flyer, I adore JetBlue. I almost always sit in Mint (and usually the throne seats), so the hard and soft products are excellent, and the flight schedules are reliable. But even the Even More Space seats in coach are terrific for that class of product, plus of course the tvs and free wifi for all. LOL - ironically, maybe B6 is better off just running transcons.