The final act of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has led to a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines for allegedly operating multiple chronically delayed flights, adversely affecting passenger travel.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently accused Southwest of running two specific flights between Chicago Midway and Oakland International as well as Baltimore/Washington and Cleveland Hopkins, which were listed as chronically delayed.

According to DOT’s claims, across these two routes from April to August 2022, there were approximately 180 significant flight disruptions, with Southwest reportedly being culpable for more than 90% of these disruptions.

A flight qualifies as chronically delayed if it is late over 50% of the time after being flown at least 10 times in a month. This lawsuit is indicative of the Department’s commitment to protecting passengers’ rights.

“Today’s action sends a message to all airlines that the Department is prepared to go to court to enforce passenger protections,” said Pete Buttigieg in a statement.

Furthermore, the DOT has also fined Frontier Airlines $650,000 for similar infractions regarding flight delays.