Federal transportation officials are taking more action over persistent flight delays.
On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced they will be suing Dallas-based Southwest Airlines as a way to step up enforcement of persistent flight delays. The federal agency will also put a fine against Frontier Airlines.
The agency has filed a lawsuit accusing Southwest of illegally operating chronically delayed flights. It would seek the maximum civil penalties.
The Transportation Department said an investigation found that Southwest operated two chronically delayed flights: One between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, California, and another between Baltimore, Maryland and Cleveland, Ohio. Both flights were chronically delayed for five straight months, resulting in 180 flight disruptions for passengers altogether.
JetBlue was recently fined $2 million for the same thing. In a recent report, Southwest ranked fifth among the 10 North American airlines for their on-time performance.
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