Washington, D.C. — Following news that the U.S. Department of Transportation is filing a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and for failing to address chronic problems on two routes—Chicago-Oakland and Baltimore-Cleveland—that caused 180 flight disruptions for five straight months, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“For far too long, airlines have gamed the system by deliberately scheduling flights they know are unlikely to operate on time, confident they could evade any accountability,” said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The DOT’s action today is an overdue correction for a long-standing problem, signaling clearly that these deceptive practices—which cost passengers time and money—must stop. Other carriers need to take notice that dishonestly scheduling will no longer be tolerated.”

The fine against Southwest is just one part of a package of recent enforcement actions from the DOT to crack down on this airlines who operate chronically delayed flights. Earlier this month, the DOT fined JetBlue Airways $2 million and yesterday also Frontier Airlines $650,000 for scheduling flights that are delayed or canceled at least ten times a month, and arrive more than 30 minutes late more than 50% of the time.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.