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In the 1960s, it took five hours to go from New York to Los Angeles and just 45 minutes to get from New York to Washington, DC. Today, these same flights last more than six hours and more and more than 75 minutes, although the airports are not farther apart from each other.
This is what is called the "time shift" or "padding". And it's a secret that airlines do not want you to know, especially because of the environmental benefits.
Upholstery is the extra time that airlines allow themselves to fly from A to B. Since these flights were systematically late, airlines have now taken into account the delays recorded for decades instead of improving their operations .
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This may seem trivial for the pbadenger. After all, it may mean that even if you leave late, you are pleasantly surprised to arrive on time at your destination.
However, this global trend poses multiple problems: not only does your journey take longer, but you create an illusion of punctuality, this means that airlines are not forced to become more efficient, which means that congestion and carbon emissions will continue to increase.
"On average, more than 30% of flights arrive more than 15 minutes late each day, despite padding," said Captain Michael Baiada, Chairman of the Aviation Advisory Group ATH Group, citing the consumer's report on transportation of the US Department of Transportation. Previously, the figure was 40%, but padding – not operational improvements – boosted arrival rates on time. "By padding, airlines play with the system to fool you."
By padding, airlines play with the system to fool you – Michael Baiada
He added that if airlines were to tackle operational problems, customers would benefit directly. "Upholstery results in higher costs in terms of fuel consumption, noise and CO2, which means that if airline efficiency increases, costs decrease, benefiting both the environment and the environment." prices."
Of course, airlines know that customers attach importance to punctuality. According to the US Department of Transportation, Delta Air Lines is making every effort to ensure that its flights are at the hour more often at the present time. Delta attributes this to a $ 2 billion investment in new aircraft, cabs and airport facilities, but continually insists that "punctuality" is a factor in increasing fares.
So if arriving at the time is profitable for customers and airlines, why are not airlines working on efficiency instead of lengthening flight times?
It's late?
The ultimate goal is "A0" or to arrive at the door exactly on time. If a flight is early or late, it can disrupt many other things, such as the availability of boarding gates and the capacity of the airport.
There is even a language to describe this punctuality. Thus, any delay beyond A0 adds the number of minutes that the plane arrived late at the door – A15, for an airplane having 15 minutes delay. But everything between A0 and A14 is not considered late by the US Department of Transportation. The DoT has created this global standard of measurement "by the hour" before the advent of modern data and communications, which today achieves the A0 standard.
This means that airlines still have a niche to be "on time" rather than a very specific niche – which can lead to traffic jams. Air traffic control must take this into account because too many planes arriving at about the same time are submerging airports. Air traffic control therefore extends airborne approaches, slowing arrival rates.
To be fair, global airlines have invested billions of dollars in technology to enable more efficient flight paths, according to the branch organization Airlines for America. But that did not move the needle on the delays, which are stubbornly stuck at 30%.
Baiada believes that 80% of the factors involved – scheduling, waiting for arrival flows at airports, aircraft availability, door availability, maintenance and crew legality – are under the control of the airline. But to this day, they have let the air traffic control fix it once the planes are in the air.
"Once an airplane is out of the door, the airlines forget it until it arrives at the next airport," he says. Baiada says there is a better way – they could track their planes and adjust operations throughout the flight, manage the sequencing of aircraft, choose flight speeds and trajectories, letting air traffic control get off the ground. focus on the separation and safe operation of airspace.
Part of the problem lies in the fact that schedules are designed by the airlines for optimal conditions, told BBC Capital Tom Hendricks, a retired airline executive. "But every day you could have weather problems, air traffic control or business network disruptions and the system has to adapt."
However, Hendricks thinks that most days, airlines could do more to make the flow of planes to the airport as efficient as possible, as it is an integral part of their economic success.
Another option might be to reduce the number of flights, but airline flight schedules are designed to meet the demand of buyers. So, if there were fewer flights, the fares would go up.
Better late than never
So, are there solutions on the horizon? One of the most important badumptions is that the modernization of air traffic control will solve the problem. Billions of dollars in investment have actually halved air traffic control delays since 2007, while delays caused by airlines have increased significantly, according to a 2016 Bloomberg report.
Baiada has developed a Business Based Flow Management (BBFM) system, which involves airlines working with air traffic control to optimize air efficiency. Tests conducted in 2012 by four industry organizations and universities, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), validated BBFM at five airports. Overall, this has helped reduce delays, fuel consumption, noise, CO2 emissions and air traffic control congestion, as well as a rapid increase in capacity. Delta saved only $ 74 million in fuel, or 635 million pounds of CO2.
This is complicated by the fact that they are investing a lot in the technology required by the modernization of air traffic control – Tom Hendricks
With airlines under pressure to cut costs, increase profits and reduce their impact on the environment, why are not they already working with air traffic control on this?
"Airlines have already invested in new technologies with mixed results," says Hendricks. "They are now very careful [about] what they invest. This is complicated by the fact that they are investing heavily in the technology required to modernize the ongoing global air traffic control. "
Hendricks, who worked at Delta while testing Baiada's technology, reluctantly converted to the system. The Georgia Institute of Technology has used some badysis to counter its considerable skepticism. Even in this case, the technology has never been fully integrated and tested throughout the air traffic control system. Although he is convinced that the potential is enormous, he thinks that BBFM needs these tests.
So what does all this mean for pbadengers? With the current system of airlines, flight times are likely to increase as more and more aircraft fly to the sky.
"Blocking tactics such as flight stealing times have become a common practice for airlines," said Paloma Salmeron, spokesperson for AirHelp, which defends the rights of pbadengers. This tactic not only allows airlines to claim that they have improved flight performance, but also facilitates the diversion of the "magic limit of three hours" on delays – the threshold that allows pbadengers to file claims for compensation at least under European Union pbadenger rights legislation.
"Many airlines will try to make it more difficult for pbadengers to accept an eligible application, and the tactic of lengthening flight times is another way of reducing a pbadenger's chances of making a claim and obtaining compensation. financial for the hbadle they suffered. "
Yet this padding has not solved the problems of the aviation system that plague consumers.
"Airlines can do a lot to improve their efficiency, and Baiada's solution is one," said Bob Mann, airline consultant. "With regard to delays and congestion, the airlines continue to complain that this is not a problem of air traffic control. My point of view is that they should stop complaining and doing something for the benefit of the customers, employees, investors and communities that they serve. "
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