Southwest Airlines was sued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Wednesday due to the airline operating chronically delayed flight routes, while fellow low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines was hit with a substantial fine for flight delays.

According to the DOT, Southwest operated two flight routes that consistently experienced delays over a five-month period more than two years ago. These routes are: one between Chicago Midway (MDW) and Oakland International Airport (OAK), and another between Baltimore (BWI) and Cleveland (CLE).

The Department said its investigation found that 180 flights across these two routes were disrupted between April and August 2022.

More than half of all scheduled flights on these routes were delayed by half an hour or more each month, with the DOT claiming more than 90 percent of the disrupted flights were within Southwest’s control.

Investigation Findings

According to the DOT’s regulations, any airline is given adequate time to amend their flight schedules should any particular route face chronic delays. However, Southwest failed to address the issues, said the Department.

“When an airline knows that a particular flight is consistently late, it is essential that the airline adjusts its schedule,” said the DOT in its lawsuit. “But on many occasions, Southwest has chosen not to make such adjustments and instead has continued to market its flights using unrealistic schedules. By doing so, Southwest has caused significant harm to its customers.”

Photo: Houston Hobby. Courtesy of Stephen M. Keller, Southwest Airlines

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement: “As part of our commitment to supporting passenger rights and fairness in the market for airline travel, we are suing Southwest Airlines for disrupting passengers’ travel with unlawful chronic flight delays,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.

“Airlines have a legal obligation to ensure that their flight schedules provide travelers with realistic departure and arrival times. Today’s action sends a message to all airlines that the Department is prepared to go to court in order to enforce passenger protections.”

Southwest’s Response

However, Southwest expressed its disappointment in the DOT’s decision to file a lawsuit, saying that it has successfully amended its flight schedule following the period of chronic delays in 2022.

“Southwest is disappointed that DOT chose to file a lawsuit over two flights that occurred more than two years ago,” said a spokesperson for Southwest in response to the lawsuit.

Photo: Southwest Airlines hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood. Courtesy of Southwest Airlines / Stephen M. Keller

“Since DOT issued its Chronically Delayed Flight (CDF) policy in 2009, Southwest has operated more than 20 million flights with no other CDF violations. Any claim that these two flights represent an unrealistic schedule is simply not credible when compared with our performance over the past 15 years.”

Frontier’s Penalty

In addition to suing Southwest, the DOT issued Frontier with a $650,000 fine for operating multiple chronically delayed services.

The low-cost carrier must pay $325,000 of the penalty directly to the U.S. Treasury, while the remaining $325,000 will be suspended and waived if the airline doesn’t operate any more chronically delayed flights over the next three years.

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