How Much Time Does It Really Take to Get There by Air?
If you have time to spare go by air!
A February 4 article by Scott McCartney in the Wall Street Journal discusses the airlines’ changes in their published schedule. It seems that over the past years the jets have slowed down, or at least it looks that way if you are looking at scheduled departure and arrival times as published.
The title of his article is ‘Why a Six Hour Flight Now Takes Seven” and here are a few excerpts:
For some airlines, longer scheduled times for flights reflects the reality of inefficiency in the nation’s air travel system, which often can’t handle the volume of planes without delay, especially when bad weather hits. For others, lengthening scheduled arrival times boosts on-time rankings charted by the Department of Transportation: Those numbers can have a real effect on public perception. And in some cases, block times have grown simply because airlines have been making so many schedule changes as they have reduced capacity over the past two years. Flights that took off without a wait can now end up stuck waiting behind a line of jets because departure times have been changed.
Airlines say they have to build in delays so schedules reflect reality, especially at congested airports in the Northeast and at big, crowded hub airports. Actual flight performance has gotten more unpredictable because of problems in the air-traffic control system. In addition, planes are flying about 2% slower to save fuel costs, airlines say. Also, carriers have switched many flights to smaller regional jets, which don’t fly as fast as bigger planes and can also force planes behind them to slow down. Some airlines have bunched up schedules at big airports to increase connecting opportunities, adding to congestion at peak hours.
And block time is only the time that you are spending inside the aircraft, either sitting at the gate, sitting at the end of the runway in line for take-off, flying, holding for landing, and then sitting on the tarmac waiting for a gate to be open and, :.
What about the time driving to the airport, finding parking, taking the shuttle bus to the terminal, in the queue for checking bags and security screening, and then sitting in one of those really comfy rows of seating at the gate because you got there early enough to make sure the previous three steps in the process did not cause you to miss your flight?
All of this process of airline travel kills time. Is time savings not the reason we travel by air? Or is it the sheer pleasure of the experience?
It seems to me that everything the airlines are doing is counter to the purpose or intent of why people fly in the first place.
Have you ever calculated the real time you spend traveling on an airline to get somewhere? What I mean by the real time is the time starting when you leave your house or office and ending when you arrive at your ultimate destination (not the airport unless that is where you are meeting).
On a 600 mile trip you might find you are not even averaging 100 miles per hour.
If you have a few minutes run the time and actual distance covered on a trip you have done. I would be interested in knowing what you find out.
1 Trackback(s)