DOT sues Southwest, fines Frontier $650K for chronic flight delays
The U.S. Department of Transportation has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and issued a fine to Frontier for chronic flight delays. This action is part of the government’s continued effort to hold airlines accountable for disrupted travel plans.
The lawsuit, filed in a California courtroom, stems from an investigation that uncovered two Southwest Airlines routes with 180 delays. According to the DOT, the airline failed to provide realistic departure and arrival times, leading to consistent passenger disruptions.
For five consecutive months in 2022, Southwest’s flights between Chicago, Illinois, and Oakland, California, were delayed by more than 30 minutes. Another route between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio, also saw similar delays, with wait times exceeding 30 minutes. The DOT claims Southwest was given ample time to address the issue but failed to make improvements.
In a statement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “Today’s action sends a message to all airlines that the Department is prepared to go to court to enforce passenger protections.”
Southwest is not the only airline facing penalties. Frontier Airlines has to pay a $650,000 fine. Half of the amount will go to the U.S. Treasury, while the remainder can be forgiven if the airline prevents future chronic delays.
Earlier this month, JetBlue Airways became the first airline to receive a penalty from the DOT, facing a $2 million fine for unrealistic scheduling and repeat delays.
Federal regulations prohibit airlines from creating flight schedules that do not accurately reflect departure and arrival times. DOT officials say these misleading schedules create unfair practices for customers and disrupt travel plans.
The DOT is now pursuing the maximum civil penalty for Southwest Airlines, signaling a continued crackdown on the airline industry’s handling of delays and customer service.
Marijuana in peanut butter, meth in crutches: TSA’s top 2024 contraband
TSA agents encounter all kinds of unusual items but the Transportation Security Administration has released its list of the most bizarre discoveries at airport security checkpoints in 2024. The list includes hidden weapons, live animals and other strange items travelers attempted to smuggle.
At Asheville Regional Airport in Fletcher, North Carolina, agents found a hollowed-out jar of peanut butter concealing marijuana.
In Virginia, TSA officers at Williamsburg International Airport discovered a knife stuffed inside a shoe. The passenger claimed they were unaware of its presence.
At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, gun parts were hidden inside a red combat boot, which was then stashed in a LEGO box. TSA agents at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said a knife was found inside the shell of a laptop.
Chicago’s Midway International Airport had an unusual find — a vape pen hidden inside a travel-size toothpaste tube. While vapes are allowed in carry-on bags, this creative concealment violated TSA rules.
Portland International Airport agents uncovered a gun wrapped in tinfoil and hidden in a teapot alongside shot glasses. At Portsmouth International Airport in New Hampshire, methamphetamine was found wrapped in electrical tape and hidden inside crutches.
In Miami, agents discovered two live snakes concealed inside a passenger’s pants. TSA officials in El Paso, Texas, said they found a replica improvised explosive device disguised as a walkie-talkie in a carry-on bag.
The top discovery of 2024? A gun was found in the seat pocket of a baby stroller at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. TSA officers immediately alerted local law enforcement.
The TSA urges travelers to pack responsibly and review the list of prohibited items before heading to the airport. For travel tips and updates, visit TSA.gov.
Two people found dead in landing gear of JetBlue flight
JetBlue confirmed two people were found dead in the wheel well of one of its planes the night of Monday, Jan. 6. The flight landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, from New York City.
Workers, doing a post-flight maintenance inspection, discovered the bodies. As of the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 7, the bodies haven’t been identified.
JetBlue officials said the bodies were found on flight 1801 from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. That flight landed just after 11 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6, according to the tracker FlightAware.
The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office will now conduct autopsies to try to determine the cause of death. Airport operations continued without interruption, according to officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the landing gear compartment is often used by stowaways. However, there is very little space and the person can lose consciousness due to a lack of oxygen and freezing temperatures at high altitudes.
In December 2024, workers discovered a body in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight that had flown from Chicago to Hawaii. Authorities still haven’t identified that person. The airline said the plane, which departed from O’Hare International Airport, was only accessible from the outside.
In addition, a woman boarded a Delta Air Lines flight over the Thanksgiving holiday and made it from Paris to New York before getting arrested.
On Christmas Eve, a stowaway boarded a Delta flight at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, bound for Hawaii, without a scanned ticket or boarding pass. When Delta employees discovered the unidentified person, the plane returned to the gate and the person ran off the flight. However, the person was later arrested in an airport restroom.
Former Transportation Department Inspector General Mary Schiavo told CNN, the stowaways post a huge security danger because they could be somebody trying to cause harm.
Investigators are now trying to figure out how the two people, who died on the JetBlue flight, were able to gain access to the plane. A spokesperson for the airline called the situation heartbreaking.
DOT fines JetBlue $2 million for ‘chronically delayed flights’
JetBlue Airways has a $2 million fine to pay from the Department of Transportation (DOT), marking the first time the agency has held a major airline accountable for what it calls “unrealistic” scheduling. The penalty stems from several routes flown between June 2022 and November 2023 consistently delayed by the airline.
The DOT defines a flight as “chronically delayed” if it is more than 30 minutes late over half the time and runs late at least 10 times a month.
The DOT specifically warned JetBlue about four of its East Coast routes as they work to improve overall service for travelers.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigiegsaid, “Illegal chronic flight delays make flying unreliable for travelers. Today’s action puts the entire airline industry on notice that we expect their flight schedules to reflect reality.”
Frequent delays have affected flights between New York’s JFK Airport and Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as routes from New York to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida. The department also flagged flights between Fort Lauderdale and Connecticut.
Data submitted by JetBlue to the Transportation Department shows the airline was responsible for 70% of the delays. The agency said it resulted in 395 delays and cancellations for passengers.
Under the Transportation Department’s rules, airlines are prohibited from setting schedules that do not reflect actual departure and arrival times.
However, JetBlue is pushing back, blaming the government for air traffic control issues.
JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said, “We have used tens of millions of dollars to reduce flight delays, particularly related to ongoing air traffic control challenges in our largest markets in the Northeast and Florida.”
Half of the $2 million fine will go to passengers who experienced delays on the affected flights. The other portion will go to the U.S. Treasury.
California Democrats race to secure more funding for high-speed rail
The clock is winding down for President Biden’s time in office, pushing Democratic congressional leaders to make a last-ditch effort to secure more funding for California’s high-speed rail. The California lawmakers sent Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg a letter, asking for $536 million to help finish phase one of the project.
It’s an investment the lawmakers said will connect California’s largest populations, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with a journey taking under three hours.
The coalition includes Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. They are joined by Reps. Pete Aguilar, Jim Costa and Zoe Lofgren. They said the new rail system will boost jobs, safety and transportation accessibility.
“By preparing for future final design and construction of complex tunnels in this corridor, the Project will advance both state and federal goals to improve safety, expand economic strength and global competitiveness, address equity issues, and implement sustainability practices to confront climate change,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Since its approval by California voters in 2008, 119 miles of rail are currently under construction, thanks in part to $6.8 billion from the federal government and another $22 billion from the state itself.
Donald Trump’s incoming administration is critical of the project, saying California has wasted billions of dollars. It’s a similar tune to what the president-elect said during his first term. He said delays and additional costs hampered the progress of the project.
The project is over budget by billions of dollars, and the majority of the line hasn’t been fully designed or constructed.
Now the co-chairs of the government’s “Efficiency Department,” Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, are ready to end the project. They both agree with Trump on the project’s careless use of federal funds.
Some California Republicans agree, and are ready to pull the plug. One Republican congressman plans to introduce a bill to defund part of the project and cut off access to federal funding.
The Biden administration makes final push for airline-customer protections
The Biden administration is making a final push to establish major consumer protections for airline passengers. The administration already put a rule requiring airlines to pay ticket refunds, but this new proposal goes further. It aligns more closely with European standards for airline compensation.
The Department of Transportation announced plans Thursday, Dec. 5, taking steps toward requiring airlines to pay passengers with cash, meals and lodging if their flights get canceled or significantly changed due to a problem with the plane or a computer outage.
What it means for the consumer
The proposal includes payments from $200 to $775, depending on the length of delay.
Current regulations have airlines decide how long a delay must last before issuing refunds. Under the new plan, a significant delay lasts at least three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international flights.
The proposal will also likely include free rebooking on the next available flight. In addition, stranded passengers would receive meals and hotel stays.
The department is also weighing allowing small airlines to pay less compensation than large ones.
Nearing the end of the Biden administration
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the department is considering new protections near the end of President Joe Biden’s term because the airline industry is breaking records.
“This launch is a process that I think will lead to more improvements for passengers,” Buttigieg told MSNBC. “There’s really two goals here –make sure those kinds of disruptions are less likely to happen in the first place, and make sure you’re taken care of when they do.”
Could airline ticket prices increase?
Industry trade group Airlines for America responded to the proposal, saying it would drive up ticket prices.
“In this highly competitive industry, carriers don’t need further incentive to provide quality service. This proposal is simply one in a long string of ill-conceived and rushed rules from an administration intent on reregulating the U.S. airline industry,” Airlines for America said in a statement.
U.S. senators question airline executives
The move follows a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 4, on the multi-billion dollar business of airline fees, where airlines discussed implementing customer-specific pricing using AI and algorithms. That means everyone would pay a different price for the same seats on the same flight.
A congressional report out last week says that five of the nation’s largest airlines collectively took more than $12 billion in revenue from seating-related fees between 2018 and 2023.
What’s next?
The Biden administration is asking for public comment on its airline-consumer protections proposal as the possibility of these regulations becoming actual policy relies on the incoming Trump administration.
Lawyer details Gaetz accusations as committee mulls report release
The heat gets turned up on Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, as the House Ethics Committee weighs whether to release its report. And New York City issues a historic drought warning. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024.
Lawyer details Gaetz accusations as committee mulls report release
President-elect Donald Trump continues to make cabinet appointments, despite some of his choices sparking controversy on both sides of the aisle.
On Monday, Nov. 18, Trump announced he selected former Wisconsin congressman and Fox Business host Sean Duffy as his secretary of the Department of Transportation. Fox Business confirmed Duffy’s last day as an employee was Monday.
In a statement, Trump said Duffy will “prioritize excellence, competence, competitiveness and beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports.”
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice for attorney general, has been under investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee for allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. The committee is expected to hold a closed-door meeting Wednesday, Nov. 20, to discuss whether it will release a report of its findings.
Since Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump’s nomination, the committee’s investigation has ended but the future of the report is still in question.
The Justice Department declined to charge Gaetz last year after its lengthy Investigation into the allegations. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
However, on Monday a lawyer for two women who claim Gaetz paid them for sex, said that one of his clients saw Gaetz having sex with a friend who was 17 at the time during a house party in Florida in 2017. Florida attorney Joel Leppard told multiple news outlets his client testified about what she saw to the Ethics committee.
“She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Representative Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,” Leppard said.
According to Leppard’s client, Gaetz stopped having a sexual relationship with the girl when he found out she was underage.
Trump transition team spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer responded to the allegations saying, “Matt Gaetz will be the next attorney general. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system. These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden justice department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing.”
While the lawyer for the two women making the accusations against Gaetz joins calls from both sides of the aisle to release the Ethic Committee’s report, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not recommend the committee do so. Johnson said since Gaetz left Congress, he does not think that would be appropriate.
Reports: Trump to join Musk for SpaceX launch in Texas
According to reports, Trump will be there along with ally and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to see the company’s sixth test of its Starship rocket. The launch is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.
Musk has been by Trump’s side in recent days, attending meetings last week at Mar-a-Lago and in Washington and joining the president-elect at the UFC event in Madison Square Garden over the weekend, where they received a thunderous welcome.
Musk was recently named to lead Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency along with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court sides with Republicans on misdated ballots
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with Republicans Monday, directing all the state’s county election officials not to count certain mail-in ballots. While the ballots arrived on time, they were in envelopes without the correct dates, handwritten by voters.
The order was prompted by a request from the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania’s Republican party. Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks County leaders voted to count hundreds of such ballots in recent days, even though the Supreme Court already said they could not be included in this election.
This comes as the Pennsylvania Senate race is headed to an automatic recount. While the Associated Press has declared Republican candidate David McCormick the winner, saying he narrowly edged Democratic incumbent Bob Casey, McCormick’s unofficial margin of victory stands at roughly 26,000 votes. That leaves it within the 0.5% threshold required under Pennsylvania law to trigger an automatic recount.
45 pro-democracy activists sentenced to prison in Hong Kong
A court in Hong Kong sentenced dozens of pro-democracy activists to 4 to 10 years in prison Tuesday in the single largest trial under a national security law introduced in 2020. Critics say it has been used by Beijing to all but eliminate political dissent in the Chinese territory.
The court convicted 45 of 47 defendants of conspiracy to commit subversion for organizing or participating in an unofficial primary election for the city legislature in 2020, despite government warnings not to. The other two defendants were acquitted earlier this year.
Legal scholar Benny Tai, whom judges said was the mastermind behind the election, got the longest sentence of 10 years.
New York City under drought warning for first time in 22 years
For the first time in more than two decades, a drought warning is in effect for New York City.
Dry conditions across the Northeast have prompted city and state officials to implement water-conservation protocols. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams upgraded the drought warning and temporarily halted a $2 billion aqueduct repair project that had stopped drinking water from flowing from some reservoirs in the Catskill region.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also issued a statewide drought watch Monday and elevated 15 counties to drought warning status, asking residents to conserve water whenever possible.
Dozens of fires have broken out in the New York City area over the past few weeks, as well as across the state line in northern New Jersey, because things are so bone dry.
Jersey Mike’s Subs could soon be sold in $8 billion deal
Private equity firm Blackstone could soon own the popular sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s Subs. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal would value Jersey Mike’s at $8 billion, including debt.
Blackstone has a history of investing in franchise businesses. It just made a deal in April to buy Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
Consulting company Technomic said Jersey Mike’s is the second largest sub-style sandwich company in the U.S. by sales after Subway.
Iowa and Georgia officials report noncitizens registered to vote
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said earlier this week 87 noncitizens in Iowa voted in previous state elections out of 2.3 million registered Iowa voters. Pate stated those cases were turned over to the attorney general, and if guilty, those individuals could face felony charges.
Additionally, Pate reported 2,022 people who had previously identified themselves as non-U.S. citizens were registered to vote in Iowa.
The audit revealed some of these noncitizens registered to vote through the Department of Transportation while renewing their driver’s licenses. Officials said the audit was routine and something they do before any election. A spokesperson for Pate’s office said some may have since been naturalized as U.S. citizens and are now legally allowed to vote.
In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported that 20 noncitizens were registered to vote, out of 8.2 million voters.
Raffensperger’s said his office removed all 20 from the voter rolls and gave their information to law enforcement. They could face charges, according to Raffensperger. None of the noncitizens cast ballots for November’s presidential election. However, Raffensperger said nine of them had participated in earlier elections.
“List maintenance is not a one-time thing,” Raffensperger said during a news conference on Wednesday, Oct. 23. “It is an ongoing process with incremental improvement. We need to remain constantly vigilant. I am committed to keeping up with list maintenance activities and will be conducting a comprehensive citizenship audit once a year going forward.”
The chief operating officer for Raffensperger’s office told reporters Wednesday that if a noncitizen is on a path to citizenship and registers to vote, “you will never get to be a citizen. It is a very high risk, very little reward for one vote thing.”
The U.S. government has fined American Airlines $50 million for failing to properly assist passengers with disabilities and mishandling wheelchairs over a five-year period. The fine follows an investigation by the Department of Transportation, which revealed that wheelchair users had been injured in some cases, though an exact number was not disclosed.
The investigation focused on incidents that occurred between 2019 and 2023, and was partly triggered by formal complaints from Paralyzed Veterans of America.
One incident that raised particular concern took place at Miami International Airport last year, when workers mishandled a wheelchair, sending it crashing down a baggage ramp. The incident was caught on camera and added to mounting scrutiny of the airline’s practices.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized American Airlines, calling it one of the worst offenders. He said the problems identified were not unique to American, noting that investigations into other airlines were underway.
“The era of tolerating poor treatment of wheelchair users on airplanes is over,” Buttigieg said in a statement, signaling a stronger stance from the department on this issue.
In its defense, American Airlines stated that it had made significant investments to improve how it handles wheelchairs and assists passengers with disabilities.
The airline said it spent over $175 million this year on training, infrastructure, and equipment, and claimed it had reduced its mishandling rate by 20%.
As a result of these improvements and its efforts to compensate affected passengers, the airline received a $25 million credit against the fine.
Between 2019 and 2023, American Airlines mishandled more than 10,000 wheelchairs and mobility scooters. Southwest Airlines reported more incidents, while Spirit Airlines had the highest percentage of errors in some years.
Disability advocates, including Carl Blake from Paralyzed Veterans of America, applauded the government’s action. Blake said the enforcement showed that passengers with mobility disabilities deserve to travel with the same level of safety and dignity as everyone else.
Looking ahead, the Department of Transportation is finalizing new rules to protect passengers with disabilities.
These rules would make it illegal for airlines to damage or delay the return of wheelchairs and would require annual training for employees who handle mobility devices. While no timeline has been given for the finalization of these rules, it is clear that airlines are under increasing pressure to improve how they serve passengers with disabilities.
It’s time for Boeing CEO to go straight to union leadership: Expert
Boeing was in tremendous trouble long before the machinist strike, which is in its second month and costing the company $1 billion per month. Since the strike started, things have gone from bad to worse, and it’s not all strike related.
On Friday, Oct. 18, the Federal Aviation Administration opened a new safety review into Boeing as part of its “aggressive oversight to ensure Boeing has the right tools to sustain lasting changes to its safety culture.” The announcement comes after the Transportation Department criticized the FAA’s oversight of the company.
And while Boeing is bleeding cash from the strike, the company secured a $10 billion credit line from banks and told the Securities and Exchange Commission it is considering raising more funds through a stock sale. The company’s credit rating is at risk of becoming “junk.”
But Boeing and its employees, many of whom are facing furloughs or layoffs, aren’t the only ones cut deep from the absence of 33,000 machinists. On Friday, the downstream effect of the strike became clear when Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems announced it would furlough 700 workers for 21 days as the strike eats into its cash and inventory space.
He should meet with the union leaders directly.
Gautam Mukunda on Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is only about two months into the job and inherited most of Boeing’s troubles. But the strike negotiations since he took the reins have backfired and further driven a wedge between the company and its workers.
“It’s fair to say, I’m concerned. I don’t think this is Ortberg so much as Boeing operating the way that it has always operated for the last generation or so, but it may be time for him to step in,” said Gautam Mukunda, leadership expert and author of “Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter.”
“Things are not going better so far for them, and that’s tough,” he said. “Ortberg [has] the opportunity to change the culture. That doesn’t mean that he will. It just means that he could, if he wanted to, and that’s going to be a multi-year process, and this will be the first step.”
While he says it is not typical for CEOs to take center stage in labor negotiations – “He’s got plenty of things that he’s got to manage, including Boeing’s horrific legal difficulties, which they’re still going through” – this might be an instance where that would be beneficial.
“He should meet with the union leaders directly,” Mukunda said. “It’s time for him to go past the negotiators and say, ‘I’m the CEO of Boeing but I’m new, right? I wasn’t here. All the awful things that my predecessors did to you, I didn’t do them. Give me a chance, and we’re going to make this happen.’ Even if that doesn’t resolve the strike immediately, it will at least indicate the seriousness and start to repair the cultural damage.”
But that’s just step one, Mukunda said. For what Ortberg needs to do next, watch the full interview in the video above.