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Southwest Sued, Frontier Fined for Flight Delays

The Department of Transportation cracks down on chronically late carriers.

Frontier A320neo

A Frontier Airbus A320neo (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced a lawsuit against Southwest and has fined Frontier for illegally operating multiple ‘chronically’ delayed flights.

According to a Wednesday DOT news release, an investigation by the agency 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.

These flights, DOT stated, resulted in 180 chronic flight disruptions for passengers between April and August 2022. The department’s lawsuit against Southwest seeks “maximum civil penalties.”

The DOT news release stated federal regulations bar airlines from promising flight schedules that do not reflect actual departure and arrival times. The department classifies flights as chronically delayed if it is flown at least 10 times a month and arrive over 30 minutes late more than half of the time. Cancellations and diversions are counted as delays.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Southwest failed to remedy the chronically delayed flights after the DOT provided the carrier time to fix their schedule.

A Southwest Airlines 737 on final approach to Los Angeles International Airport.
(Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

“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 the release. “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.”

A Southwest spokesperson told AirlineGeeks in an emailed statement that the carrier was “disappointed” by the DOT’s decision to file the lawsuit.

“Southwest is disappointed that DOT chose to file a lawsuit over two flights that occurred more than two years ago,” the spokesperson said. “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. In 2024, Southwest led the industry by completing more than 99% of its flights without cancellation.”

Frontier Fined

Additionally, the DOT also fined Frontier on Wednesday for operating multiple chronically delayed flights. Frontier was fined $650,000 in civil penalties with $325,000 to be paid to the U.S. Treasury and the remaining $325,000 to be suspended if the carrier does not operate any chronically delayed flights over the next three years.

The consent order stated that from April to August 2022, Frontier operated a chronically delayed flight between St. Thomas and Orlando. Frontier also operated two additional chronically delayed flights from Dec. 1, 2022 through April 30, 2023: One between Atlanta and Phoenix, and another between Orlando and Houston.

“Frontier held out these chronically delayed flights to the public at least 63 times in violation of [federal law],” the DOT’s consent order stated. “Holding out these chronically delayed flights disregarded consumers’ need to have reliable information about the real arrival time of a flight and harmed thousands of passengers, including those with connections. The civil penalty in this matter is intended, in part, to reflect that harm.”

The DOT also stated that Frontier had “ample opportunity” of over four months to correct the chronic delays and avoid civil penalties.

Wednesday’s announcements come after NewYork-based carrier JetBlue was fined $2 million for 145 delayed flights it operated between June 2022 and November 2023.

Frontier told AirlineGeeks that it is not giving a statement on its fine.

AirlineGeeks.com Staff
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Author

  • Caleb Revill is a journalist, writer and lifelong learner working as a Junior Writer for Firecrown. When he isn't tackling breaking news, Caleb is on the lookout for fascinating feature stories. Every person has a story to tell, and Caleb wants to help share them! He can be contacted by email anytime at [email protected].

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