Why Flights Are Getting Longer

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY


Why Flights Are Getting Longer
Planes Are Faster and Navigation Better, but Airlines
Are Padding Schedules Even More as Congestion Worsens
May 29, 2007; Page D1

(snip)

Travel delays get lots of attention for the pain of being trapped for hours, the inconvenience of missed connections and late arrivals and the cost. About a half-million U.S. flights arrived late last year, and this summer may see record levels of delays, officials say. Estimates peg the cost at roughly $6 billion a year for airlines and more than $9 billion a year for passengers in terms of the value of time lost.

But that's only part of the problem. Many delays are now simply being incorporated into schedules, at high cost to consumers and airlines. Congestion at airports and in the sky have forced airlines to pad their schedules more than ever so flights have a better chance of arriving "on-time," which the Department of Transportation defines as within 15 minutes of the airline's scheduled arrival time. Flights now arrive technically "on-time," but with 30 minutes or more of delay written into the flight plan.

A check of two dozen flights from June airline schedules found that "block times" -- the time airlines allot in their schedules for the trip -- are about 10% higher than they were in June 1997. That kind of slowdown makes trips less productive for travelers with more time spent sitting and waiting. It can also frustrate travelers who arrive "early" on days when there aren't slowdowns, only to wait for a gate to open at the scheduled arrival time.

Even though some of today's airplanes cruise faster than the models they have replaced and are equipped with advanced navigation systems capable of flying the shortest route between two distant points, airlines have had little opportunity to take advantage of those improvements. Congestion in the sky and high fuel prices often slow down the cruise speed of planes. A lack of modern equipment for air-traffic controllers means planes still fly from one radio beacon on the ground to another, hop-scotching across the country instead of flying shorter, more-direct paths.

(snip)


URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118040436029616767.html (subscription)

[Blue_Tires]

1. wow...all this time i thought they just SEEMED like long stretches of hell

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

2. my personal favorite...

Is when a flight leaves the gate with no intention of departing at any point in the distant future, only to taxi around the airport aimlessly for hours on end... I'm talking to YOU Delta.

And naturally, while we are getting our slow motion tour of the grounds of the Salt Lake City or Denver airport they are extra generous in the distribution of beverages and snacks.

[Gelliebeans]

3. Yep gotta agree there

The airlines wonder why we are nasty as if a Sunday drive around the airport for hours wouldn't be the highlight of anyone's day. :wtf:

Those are the flights that are usually overbooked and I am in a middle seat and 4 year old sitting directly behind me kicking my seat. :grr:

[question everything]

5. Which is why we need to invest in fast moving trains

that connect cities less than 500 miles apart.

It is ridiculous to spend about five hours for a flight that takes less than an hour.

[Blue_Tires]

6. not to mention layovers

[SoCalDem]

4. all I know is that Tahiti was almost "not worth it" after that long flight

:)