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Southwest Airlines Sued, Frontier Fined For Chronic Flight Delays: Feds

The federal government is suing Southwest Airlines and fined Frontier Airlines, accusing the carriers of illegally operating multiple chronically delayed flights and causing significant problems for travelers.

Planes for Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

Planes for Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons - David Aughinbaugh II (left) and Juan Quintero (right)

The U.S. Department of Transportation filed a lawsuit against Southwest on Wednesday, Jan. 15, the DOT said in a news release. The suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeks maximum civil penalties against the airline.

Federal regulators said they're cracking down on "unrealistic scheduling practices" by Southwest.

"Airlines have a legal obligation to ensure that their flight schedules provide travelers with realistic departure and arrival times," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Today's action sends a message to all airlines that the Department [of Transportation] is prepared to go to court in order to enforce passenger protections."

Federal rules require airlines to schedule flights with realistic departure and arrival times. According to the DOT, continuing to market a flight as on time after it has been chronically delayed for more than four consecutive months violates consumer protection laws.

Flights are considered chronically delayed if they arrive more than 30 minutes late at least half the time over four months. 

The lawsuit focuses on two specific Southwest routes: Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) to Oakland, California, and Baltimore (BWI) to Cleveland (CLE). Between April and August 2022, the flights were delayed for five consecutive months, impacting a combined 180 departures. 

DOT data shows Southwest was responsible for more than 90 percent of the disruptions on those flights. Despite having time to fix its schedule, the DOT claimed Southwest failed to address the delays, continuing to mislead passengers with unrealistic flight times.

The lawsuit coincided with action against Frontier Airlines for similar practices. Frontier was fined $650,000, with half of the amount suspended if the airline avoids further violations over the next three years.

Southwest was already given a historic fine of $140 million for issues that led to about 16,900 canceled flights and more than two million stranded travelers during the 2022 Christmas holiday season. That fine was 30 times larger than any other DOT penalty for consumer protection rule violations.

The DOT also ordered Southwest to issue more than $600 million in refunds to customers affected by the 2022 holiday travel chaos.

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