The Unexpected Reason Passenger Airline Flights Have Gotten Slower Over The Past 30 Years

You might feel like flights take longer than they used to — and that's not just your imagination. Between check-in, security checks, and waiting to board at the gate, a trip to the airport is no small chunk out of anyone's day. Plus, airports keep getting bigger. In fact, passengers might find themselves walking as long as 1.5 miles across a major airport to get to their gate from the entrance. However, there's another unexpected, yet deliberate, reason air travel seems to be taking longer: airlines have all been padding their schedules.

In essence, "padding" is the practice of adding extra time to a flight's published flight duration, beyond the true anticipated time flying in the air and taxiing on the ground, to account for potential delays and appear punctual. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a flight is considered "delayed" only once 15 minutes have passed beyond its expected time of arrival. As such, when a flight that has been padded experiences no delays, it winds up arriving "early," which looks good on reports. If, for any reason, departure is delayed, the likelihood is higher that the flight will simply appear as though it is arriving "on time," which ultimately makes for happier customers as well. After all, no one likes it when their flight is delayed or cancelled.

According to analysis run by FinanceBuzz, which studied the data of over 35 million U.S. flights from 2012 to 2022, domestic flight times are being extended by more than 10% these days thanks to schedule padding. They further identified an increase in average padding of approximately 27% over the course of that 10-year span, indicating that it's likely continuing to get worse over time.

At the same time that estimated flight times appear to be growing due to padding, some flights have deliberately been growing slower and slower in response to fuel efficiency incentives or to manage traffic flow, ensuring safer airport and aerospace operations. Planes work the same as cars on a highway — sometimes you'll get more miles to the gallon by driving below the fastest speed you're allowed to go within the speed limit. Thanks to the fuel savings it incurs, slowing down flight times by as little as one or two minutes can save an airline millions of dollars over the course of a year. Not only that, but saving on fuel is also better for the environment. In hopes of reaching net-zero climate impact by 2050, scientists at the University of Cambridge are now asking airlines to slow down their flight times by 15% in order to reduce carbon emissions.

However, while airlines may save money on fuel and look better in consumer reports by extending their flight times, they're also negatively impacting their revenue by reducing aircraft utilization. After all, less time in the air means fewer flights per day. Even with efforts by major carriers like American Airlines to reduce connection times, there are still limitations imposed on aircraft scheduling by antiquated air-traffic control systems and ever-increasing traffic at major airports. 

Ultimately, as a passenger, it's best to simply adjust expectations by planning for earlier pickups and longer layovers. That is, unless you're notified prior to takeoff that your flight has been delayed. And next time your flight does get delayed, just know you needn't fret so much. Thanks to padding, you likely won't be arriving as far behind schedule as you might think.