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> Here the airlines are doing pretty much exactly what I, as a passenger, want, which is to predictably arrive at an airport by a certain time more often. I wa

> Here the airlines are doing pretty much exactly what I, as a passenger, want, which is to predictably arrive at an airport by a certain time more often. I was flying to Edinburgh for Christmas a couple of years ago, we were slated to leave at 9pm and arrive at 9am (7 hour flight + 5 hour time difference, made sense). Then the plane was late getting to us, and they didn't arrive until 9:30, they quickly kicked out the passengers, then the new crew climbed aboard to start cleaning. By 10pm, we were still waiting in the terminal. at 10:45, we were finally allowed to board the plane, and after a couple of minutes it backed away from the gate and taxied to the runway, where we sat for over an hour. We were the last scheduled departure, and when the plane arrived late, the de-icing crew had gone home. We didn't leave until after midnight. And we arrived... at 8:45 am, 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. I slept, so I'm not sure if we hit some massive jet stream, or a black hole, or what, but that was the day that I stopped believing flight times. Edit: Took this photo[1] waiting outside the hotel for an early check-in. 1: https://megapickles.photo/2017/12/25/reflections-of-edinburgh/ https://megapickles.photo/2017/12/25/reflections-of-edinburg...

deleted 8y ago
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Wowfunhappy 8y ago
If you arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, that sounds like a success? One way or another, the airline gave your flight almost exactly the right amount of padding.
- jermaustin1 8y ago
  Without a doubt, but it makes me incredibly sceptical of flight times now.
  - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
    That's what I'm not understanding, what are you skeptical about? At least from this data point, they got the time right! I suppose "flight time" should technically be defined as "time in the air", but realistically, "time it will take you to get from airport A to airport B" is a much more useful metric to passengers.
nawgszy 8y ago
There can be a lot of factors involved in that, though. The amount of aircraft in the sky is really high, and accordingly flight paths are often fairly indirect with inefficient corners involved to make the most highly de-conflicted flight paths possible. When your plane is extremely delayed, to the point that you're the last flight taking off from your airport (and thus likely a large set of local airports), this makes the likelihood that a huge amount of airspace is more clear around your flight path now than it was for the originally scheduled flight. The updated flight path might be massively more efficient, hit favorable wind conditions, open up different speed options along the way, etc. Since flight times are dependent on a large amount of conditions that are pretty volatile with respect to time, the original estimate was probably true, but with changing conditions and flexible scheduling, they managed to get you where you were going on time. So, sure, maybe the 'flight time' isn't true, but it's a pretty clear indication the arrival time is.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Wowfunhappy 8y ago

If you arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, that sounds like a success? One way or another, the airline gave your flight almost exactly the right amount of padding.

jermaustin1 8y ago
Without a doubt, but it makes me incredibly sceptical of flight times now.
- Wowfunhappy 8y ago
  That's what I'm not understanding, what are you skeptical about? At least from this data point, they got the time right! I suppose "flight time" should technically be defined as "time in the air", but realistically, "time it will take you to get from airport A to airport B" is a much more useful metric to passengers.

nawgszy 8y ago

There can be a lot of factors involved in that, though. The amount of aircraft in the sky is really high, and accordingly flight paths are often fairly indirect with inefficient corners involved to make the most highly de-conflicted flight paths possible. When your plane is extremely delayed, to the point that you're the last flight taking off from your airport (and thus likely a large set of local airports), this makes the likelihood that a huge amount of airspace is more clear around your flight path now than it was for the originally scheduled flight. The updated flight path might be massively more efficient, hit favorable wind conditions, open up different speed options along the way, etc. Since flight times are dependent on a large amount of conditions that are pretty volatile with respect to time, the original estimate was probably true, but with changing conditions and flexible scheduling, they managed to get you where you were going on time. So, sure, maybe the 'flight time' isn't true, but it's a pretty clear indication the arrival time is.