At 11:00 AM 2/11/2004, you wrote: >Padding flight schedules is almost epidemic. As just one example, NY to >Washington DC is scheduled for between 1 hour and 1 hour and a half, when >flight >time is about 30 minutes. This is not new, though. It started about a decade >ago, when reporting on-time performance was instituted. I can't remember the >last time that I haven't actually arrived early, barring really major weather, >ATC, or other delays. What the NYT article may be observing is a recovery from >the poor on-time performance in the initial post 9/11 period, when extra >security and all the rest of the hassles we've come to know and love were >instituted and threw lots of sand in the airlines' cogs. > >Best regards, >Stefano Pagiola The airlines have also gotten much more draconian about "door closed and ready to push" prior to scheduled departure time. With the "curb to jetway" time being both longer, and less predictable, my impression is that the airlines are far more willing to tell people "You didn't hit the gate at 30 minutes to flight time, your problem, not ours." I've basically had to add about 30 minutes of slop time to my "get through the airport" routine, because, at random, you'll hit a 20-30 minute line at some random checkpoint. Far from everytime I fly, but often enough to pay attention. on-time pushback makes a big difference in hitting on-time arrivals. On the other hand, as various hubs and key airports have seen flight operations climb back towards pre 9-11 levels, (Number of planes, not seats, as many new operations are RJs, not mainline) I've started seeing more flights which are backed up in the system. - David