I flew a lot more than usual in the months of December and January, and discovered a sneaky airline trick. Since they are rated on number of delays, on-time flights, etc they pad the departure and arrival times to help them meet their mark.

For example, my 1 hr 9 minute wheels up to wheels down flight from Atlanta to Akron, OH allows for 1 hr and 40 minutes according to my boarding pass. That is a lot of extra time for taxi, take off and landing. Not only that but the same flight is called the 6:30pm flight, but the ATL airport recognizes it as the 6:48pm flight. There’s a few extra minutes just in case.

Why is this important?

Because the next time I see an ad for an airline with “more on time flights than our competitors” I’ll know they padded the numbers. They gave extra cushion to accomplish a percieved success.

Do I do this? Do I count correctly? Do I cushion my numbers? Do I try to appear bigger, better, or more successful than I really am?

Do you?