Two foreign airlines fined $825,000 for flying over a no-fly zone
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Civil Aviation Resources Network, December 13, 2024: The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it has fined Ethiopian Airlines $425,000 for operating flights with the United Airlines code in an area where the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits U.S. airlines from flying. At the same time, Etihad Airways was fined $400,000 for operating flights with the JetBlue Airways code in a similar restricted area. Both companies were ordered to immediately cease and prevent similar violations in the future.
An investigation by the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) showed that between February 2020 and December 2022, Ethiopian Airlines frequently operated flights with United Airlines' code between Ethiopia and Djibouti, which crossed the airspace banned by the FAA. It is worth noting that the airline still committed a violation after OACP sent an investigation letter to the company. By operating flights in this way, Ethiopian Airlines violated the conditions of its operating rights and engaged in air transportation activities without obtaining proper authorization from the Department of Transportation.
According to another investigation by OACP, between August and September 2022, Etihad Airways operated multiple flights with JetBlue Airways' code between the UAE and the United States, which crossed the airspace banned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for US airlines to fly. In addition, despite OACP notifying Etihad Airways of this violation in September and November 2022, OACP later discovered that the airline continued to operate flights with JetBlue Airways' code on the same routes from January to April 2023, also entering the airspace prohibited by the FAA. The FAA stated that Etihad Airways not only violated the conditions of its operating rights, but also engaged in air transportation activities without formal authorization from the U.S. Department of Transportation.