DOT Abandons Lawsuit Targeting Southwest Airlines for Chronically Delayed Flights

The Trump administration dropped a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against Southwest Airlines over allegations of chronically delayed flights.

In January 2025, the Department of Transportation filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines in a California district court, accusing the carrier of continually operating chronically delayed flights. The lawsuit demanded that the airline pay $2.1 million in fines. This was among the Biden administration’s final actions, aimed at solidifying his legacy as a champion of consumer rights. 

Southwest Challenged the Proposed Fines

The DOT under the Biden administration already had some wins against other airlines as both JetBlue and Frontier accepted big fines over the issue of chronically delayed flights. JetBllue paid $2 million in fines while Frontier paid $650,000.

Southwest, on the other hand, decided to challenge the proposed fine and was then sued by the Biden administration. 

At the heart of the lawsuit is a law that prevents airlines from having overly ambitious flight schedules with little hope of making it on time. A chronically delayed flight is one that arrives over 30 minutes late in more than 50% of its scheduled operations within the previous five months.

The DOT has the authority to fine airlines up to $40,772 for each flight that violates the chronically delayed flight rule. 

According to the lawsuit, the airline operated multiple chronically delayed flights. For instance, in April 2022, Southwest flight 1029 from Chicago to Oakland was late on 19 of 25 flights by an average of more than an hour. In June 2022, Southwest flight 1767 from Baltimore to Cleveland was late by an average of 87 minutes on 19 of 26 flights. 

DOT Dropped Its Lawsuit Against Southwest

On Friday, lawyers acting on behalf of DOT Secretary Sean Duffy told the San Francisco Court that the DOT was dismissing its lawsuit against the airline. However, the agency did not provide a reason for this move.