Flights are indeed getting longer — here’s why

If your flight times seem unusually long, that’s because they are.

A New York Times analysis of Bureau of Transportation Statistics data found that average scheduled duration from New York’s JFK airport to Los Angeles has increased 23 minutes since 1995. In general, there’s an average rise in travel time of 18 minutes.

But even though travel time has increased, flights are landing on time, or sometimes even early. The key here is airlines extending their scheduled flight durations more than the actual duration length of the flight, according to the Times.

This is often due to a practice called “padding.”

“Padding flights has existed for some time and has been a practice for all airlines for decades,” Sabrina Childress-Miller, a Chicago-based former flight attendant with Spirit Airlines, and the former communications chairperson of the Association of Flight Attendants Union, told Reader’s Digest.

“The average passenger wouldn’t notice the minutes added to their flight time, as they are focused on getting on the aircraft and making it to their destination at the time noted on their ticket.”

This provides leeway in the case of potential slight delays — and it also helps improve stats to be reported to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which bolsters an airline’s reputation.

“The fact is that extending the scheduled flight durations can improve an airline’s on-time performance data, help avoid customer dissatisfaction due to delays and allow flights to arrive early or on time more frequently,” Childress-Miller told the outlet.

“The goal is to provide a buffer in the schedules to account for potential delays or disruptions while maintaining a positive image of punctuality.”

Flights might also be slowing down due to traffic congestion both on the runway and in the air. Airlines and air traffic control work together to coordinate a “carefully crafted” flight plan that ensures safety in all phases of the flight.

“Flight crew may receive a message in flight to slow down. Having the additional ‘padded’ times ensures that the average passenger is unaware of [air traffic control] practices and other safety measures [and they] don’t feel the effects of a slowed flight,” Childress-Miller shared.

Meanwhile, according to a recent report from the University of Cambridge, experts and scientists are pushing for longer flight times, suggesting that planes should fly slower and extend flight time in order to reduce carbon admissions.

While this measure would make flying more sustainable and environmentally friendly, the authors note that there would also be a “potential negative impact on airline productivity and passenger acceptance, especially for longer flights.”

The report also proposed replacing older aircrafts with more up-to-date models and making sure the aircrafts are used to route distances they were designed for.

But implementing these proposals would be a “whole systems process change,” Professor Rob Miller said.

“Airlines can’t do them alone, nor can the manufacturers or the airports. It’s not that anyone doesn’t want to. It’s just that the complexity of the system makes it very hard to.”

If aircrafts were designed differently in the future, there could potentially be new planes designed specifically for shorter flights of 2,000 kilometers, or just under 1,300 miles.

“Aircrafts that are designed to fly longer ranges are heavier and therefore less efficient,” Miller said. “Designing an aircraft for the real-world journey it will operate will have a fuel-burn benefit and make it more efficient.”