Frontier Airlines has just become only the second airline to have ever been fined by the Department for Transportation (DOT) over allegations that it operated chronically delayed flights for months on end.
The DOT has had the legal power to fine airlines for operating a ‘chronically delayed’ flight for many years, but it wasn’t until last year that the department’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection decided to start flexing its muscles over the issue.
For the purposes of this rule, the ‘chronically delayed’ tag is applied to a flight when it arrives late at its destination by at least 30 minutes more than half of the time over a period of at least five months. Once a flight has been identified as chronically delayed, airlines can be hit with a fine of $40,272 for each rule violation.
The reason why a flight is chronically delayed is of no consequence to the DOT. Even if the delays were entirely out of the control of the airline, the Feds take the view that an airline should see that the schedule isn’t working and adjust the flight to make sure passengers aren’t routinely inconvenienced.
In the case of Frontier Airlines, investigators found that it operated three chronically delayed flights in 2022 and 2023, including Flight 131 from St. Thomas to Orlando, which had to make a delay-inducing technical refueling stop in San Juan due to temporary weight restrictions.
Frontier said that besides a chronically delayed arrival, the only other choice the airline had to get around these weight restrictions was to offload passengers and baggage in St Thomas.
On the two other flights that were subject to the DOT investigation – between Atlanta and Phoenix and between Orlando and Houston – Frontier argued that it proactively adjusted its schedule or discontinued these flights before it was formally told that a probe had been opened.
Despite these mitigating factors, the DOT concluded that Frontier should be slapped with a civil penalty of $650,000. Half of the penalty must be paid within 12 months, while the remaining $325,000 will only have to be paid if Frontier is found guilty of operating any more chronically delayed flights.
To prevent future offenses, the Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier says it has invested in new IT systems and has strengthened its internal processes.
Earlier this month, JetBlue was ordered to pay $2 million for operating at least four chronically delayed flights. The airline will pay half of the fine over the next 12 months, while $1 million will be used to compensate passengers who found themselves on the delayed flights.
Outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the department is actively investigating other airlines for operating chronically delayed flights.
