America’s most-delayed airline of 2024, Frontier, got a fine from the Department of Transportation
Though in the final days of his tenure, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is clearly still intent on cracking down on flight delays, with the DOT announcing plans on Wednesday to sue Southwest Airlines and fine Frontier Airlines over late arrivals dating back as far as three years ago.
The DOT is seeking maximum penalties against Southwest, alleging that the airline illegally operated two chronically delayed flight routes between April and August 2022. A flight is “chronically delayed” if it’s flown more than 10 times a month and arrives more than half an hour late over 50% of the time, per the department. The DOT also fined Frontier $650,000 for operating “multiple” chronically delayed flights, but the airline will only pay half if it avoids offending again over the next three years.
While a Southwest representative stayed pretty tight-lipped about whether the company would petition the incoming administration to rethink the lawsuit (per Axios), it seems like the airline might have ironed out some of its punctuality issues in 2024… Frontier, not so much.
According to the latest Air Travel Consumer Report from the Department of Transportation itself, Frontier Airlines has been America’s least reliable major carrier: some 32% of its flights were delayed in the first 10 months of 2024 (i.e. arriving or departing more than 15 minutes after its schedule).
The DOT is seeking maximum penalties against Southwest, alleging that the airline illegally operated two chronically delayed flight routes between April and August 2022. A flight is “chronically delayed” if it’s flown more than 10 times a month and arrives more than half an hour late over 50% of the time, per the department. The DOT also fined Frontier $650,000 for operating “multiple” chronically delayed flights, but the airline will only pay half if it avoids offending again over the next three years.
While a Southwest representative stayed pretty tight-lipped about whether the company would petition the incoming administration to rethink the lawsuit (per Axios), it seems like the airline might have ironed out some of its punctuality issues in 2024… Frontier, not so much.
According to the latest Air Travel Consumer Report from the Department of Transportation itself, Frontier Airlines has been America’s least reliable major carrier: some 32% of its flights were delayed in the first 10 months of 2024 (i.e. arriving or departing more than 15 minutes after its schedule).
