(Picture above: Passenger rights activists suggest flight time padding allows some airlines to dodge the thresholds that qualify passengers to apply for compensation. Credit: Getty Images.)
Ever wondered why flight times seem to be getting longer? It's called "padding," a phenomenon that helps airlines arrive on time—but at a cost.
In the 1960s it took five hours to fly from New York to Los Angeles, and just 45 minutes to hop from New York to Washington, DC. Today, these same flights now take six-plus hours and 75 minutes respectively, although the airports haven't moved further apart.
It's called "schedule creep", or padding. And it's a secret the airlines don't want you to know about, especially given the spillover effects for the environment.
Padding is the extra time airlines allow themselves to fly from A to B. Because these flights were consistently late, airlines have now baked delays experienced for decades into their schedules instead of improving operations.
It might seem innocuous enough to the passenger – after all, what it can mean is that even though you take off late, you're pleasantly surprised to arrive on time at your destination.
However, this global trend poses multiple problems: not only does your journey take longer but creating the illusion of punctuality means there's no pressure on airlines to become more efficient, meaning congestion and carbon emissions will keep rising.
"On average, over 30 percent of all flights arrive more than 15 minutes late every day despite padding," says Captain Michael Baiada, president of aviation consultancy ATH Group citing the US Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report. The figure used to be 40 percent but padding – not operational improvements – boosted on-time arrival rates. "By padding, airlines are gaming the system to fool you."
He says if instead airlines tackled operational issues, customers would directly benefit. "Padding drives higher costs in fuel burn, noise and CO2 which means if airline efficiency goes up, costs go down, benefitting both the environment and fares."
Of course, airlines know customers value punctuality. Delta Air Lines for one, goes to great lengths to ensure its flights are on time more often, according to the US Department of Transportation. Delta attributes this to a $2bn investment in new aircraft, cabins and airport facilities, but continually emphasises "on-time-performance" is a driver of higher fares.
So, if arriving on time pays off for customers and airlines, why don't the airlines work on efficiency instead of lengthening flight times?
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(Picture above: Composite image of traffic on flight paths out of London Heathrow. Credit: Getty Images.)
How late is late?
The ultimate goal is 'A0,' or arrival at the gate exactly on time. If a flight is early or late, it can disrupt several other things – like gate availability and airport capacity.
