USDOT announces audit on FAA flight delay data amid rising concerns

The Office of Inspector General of USDOT will assess the efficacy of FAA's data reporting procedures. This involves analyzing domestic flight operations' delay reports to determine if weather, air traffic control issues, or other systemic inefficiencies are responsible for disruptions.

In February 2023, an investigation was launched by USDOT's Office of Inspector General into a surge of post-pandemic flight delays and cancellations. According to CNN, this investigation seeks to identify disruption causes and evaluate government data accuracy on such incidents. The Inspector General found that NAS problems led to nearly 30,000 canceled or delayed flights due to high traffic volumes and management difficulties during peak travel times like summer and Christmas holidays.

A separate audit examining FAA's NextGen plan—a multibillion-dollar project updating air traffic control systems—has also been initiated by USDOT’s Office of Inspector General.

JetBlue was fined $2 million by DOT earlier this year for operating consistently delayed flights—a practice deemed unreasonable scheduling that harms passengers and competition fairness within airlines. Joanna Geraghty, CEO of JetBlue, called upon President Donald Trump in December via Bloomberg interview for modernization efforts addressing longstanding ATC system issues exacerbated by retirements during COVID-19 impacts affecting New York-based airlines significantly.