Block time three times the flight time
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Block time three times the flight time
I travelled on flight DL 3115 from JFK to DCA on Sat 12th May (a CR9 operated by Mesaba if you are really interested).
I checked its details on flightstats: (All times local)
Scheduled departure: 1630
Actual departure 1625
Takeoff 1709
Landing 1749
On Gate 1752
Schedules arrival 1828
(I seem to recall the pushback actually being closer to 1630 perhaps 1625 was the time the jetty was removed).
In other words the schedules block time was 1 hr 58 mins and the flight took 40 minutes. Taxi time at JFK was around 40 mins and we were on gate 36 minutes early.
In my experience taxi times at JFK mid afternoon can easily exceed 40 minutes (often by a lot) and the flight came straight in to the optimal runway at DCA. However, a schedules block time of three times the flight time! Is this padding to ensure that the flight achieves a good on time ranking? If you have to increase the block time of flights at JFK what does that do to the economics of airlines such as jetBlue?
I checked its details on flightstats: (All times local)
Scheduled departure: 1630
Actual departure 1625
Takeoff 1709
Landing 1749
On Gate 1752
Schedules arrival 1828
(I seem to recall the pushback actually being closer to 1630 perhaps 1625 was the time the jetty was removed).
In other words the schedules block time was 1 hr 58 mins and the flight took 40 minutes. Taxi time at JFK was around 40 mins and we were on gate 36 minutes early.
In my experience taxi times at JFK mid afternoon can easily exceed 40 minutes (often by a lot) and the flight came straight in to the optimal runway at DCA. However, a schedules block time of three times the flight time! Is this padding to ensure that the flight achieves a good on time ranking? If you have to increase the block time of flights at JFK what does that do to the economics of airlines such as jetBlue?
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
Age: 79
Posts: 8,268
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The scheduled times always allow for delays. You'll find you can often take off 20 minutes late, yet still arrive on time or earlier. I believe that the scheduled times from London to Paris are twice what they were 50 years ago!
