The US Department of Transportation (DOT) announced yesterday a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines for routinely operating multiple flights on chronic delays, a practice that has disrupted the travel of thousands of passengers. The department is seeking maximum civil penalties against Southwest, plus compensation for travellers. The lawsuit was filed jointly with the Department of Justice in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
“As part of our commitment to upholding passenger rights and fairness in the air travel market, we are suing Southwest Airlines for disrupting passenger journeys with chronic and unlawful flight delays”, said US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “Airlines have a legal obligation to provide realistic departure and arrival times to travellers. Today’s action sends a message to all airlines that the Department is prepared to go to court to enforce passenger rights”.
The DOT investigation found that Southwest operated two chronically delayed flights, one between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, California, and another between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio, resulting in 180 flight disruptions for passengers between April and August 2022. Each flight was chronically delayed for five consecutive months.
The transportation authority also fined Frontier Airlines $650,000 for routinely operating three chronically delayed flights. Operating flights chronically delayed for more than four consecutive months “is a form of unrealistic scheduling that disrupts passengers’ travel plans, denies them reliable information about flight schedules, and allows airlines to unfairly take business from competitors and deceive consumers”, the authority said in a statement.
According to DOT rules, a flight is chronically delayed if it operates at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time.
On January 3, JetBlue was already fined two million dollars for the same reasons. This time, the airline had operated four routes that were chronically late for at least five months each.
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AVIONEWS – World Aeronautical Press Agency