Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) formally filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, alleging that it illegally operated multiple chronically delayed flights that seriously disrupted passengers’ travel plans. According to the DOT, these long-delayed flights reflect unrealistic scheduling practices that not only harm passenger rights, but also undermine fair competition in the airline industry. The lawsuit seeks the maximum available civil penalties.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said: “To protect passengers and preserve fairness in the air travel marketplace, we are suing Southwest Airlines for illegally disrupting passengers’ travel plans through chronic flight delays.” He also emphasized that airlines have a legal obligation to ensure their published schedules provide accurate departure and arrival times. Today’s action sends a message to all airlines: the Department of Transportation is prepared to use legal enforcement to uphold passenger protection rules.
In addition, the DOT also took enforcement action today against Frontier Airlines for similarly operating multiple chronically delayed flights. The airline was fined $650,000, of which $325,000 will be paid to the U.S. Treasury. The remainder will depend over the next three years on whether the airline continues operating similar flights.
Under federal regulations, airlines may not offer flight schedules that do not reflect their actual departure and arrival times. Chronic delays are considered unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct that not only disrupts passengers’ travel plans, but also hinders competitors’ business opportunities. In particular, if a flight continues to be delayed for more than four consecutive months, continuing to market that flight may constitute unrealistic scheduling. Under DOT rules, a route is considered chronically delayed if it operates more than 10 times per month and more than 50% of its arrivals are delayed by over 30 minutes. Cancellations and diversions are also included in the delay calculation.
The investigation found that two Southwest routes were chronically delayed: one between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, California, and the other between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio. From April through August 2022, these two routes caused 180 flight disruptions for passengers, with each route experiencing delays for five consecutive months.
Based on data collected by the DOT from Southwest, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimated that the airline was responsible for 90% of the disruptions on these two chronically delayed routes. Regardless of the specific cause of any given disruption, DOT rules require airlines to have sufficient time after a flight first becomes chronically delayed to correct their scheduling and avoid unlawful unrealistic scheduling. However, Southwest failed to correct these chronically delayed flights.
The lawsuit was jointly filed by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
For more information, please see the court filing.
