Olbie, you are not not long in the aviation business I would say.
How can being early be bad for anybody?
Think about it, if an aircraft is scheduled to be early on every sector it means more on ground time and so no profit. Time on the ground doing nothing is too expensive for the company, An aircraft must work to pay for itself and if you speak to any charter operator they will tell you 18 hours a day is possible. As for pax not caring if they arrive on time, well thats just plain stupid! On time arrival is the biggest concern for any pax especially business travellers who have deadlines. On time departures don't matter if you arrive on time for these people. Secret to success is a tight schedule you can keep to and GF has rarely been able to achieve that.