UTA_flyinghigh From Tunisia, joined Oct 2001, 6495 posts, RR: 52 Posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 1763 times:
After cheating on available prices, airport/city distances and locations, it seems that there is another field in which FR tends to be dishonest - flights arriving on schedule.
They have an advertising campaign running claiming that "xxx% of their flights arrive on schedule compared to XXX% for U2".
I think I know how they achieve thses figures.
I flew with FR from DUB to NCL and return this past saturday.
The theory :
ETD DUB : 0910
ETA NCL : 1015
ETD NCL : 2110
ETD DUB : 2215
The facts :
TD DUB : 0930
TA NCL : 1013
TD NCL : 2140
TA DUB : 2215
In both flights they made an announcement stating the "on schedule" arrival.
My belief is that FR deliberately exaggerates flying times on their website in order to achieve near-perfect on-time figures. Now I don't think this is common practice in the industry as I haven't observed this on the other airlines I have flown with. I haven't flown with any other LCC than FR, so is it common practice among LCC's ?
Will
PS : I will hereby take this opportunity to show you a Global Express at CMF
Spotterboy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 1740 times:
What, only 1 plug?!? But it still works
But back to the content of the topic.... I have heard such things about FR a few times...
But I don't think all low-cost airlines are doing that, because EasyJet is nearly never on-time
David_itl From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2001, 7144 posts, RR: 14 Reply 5, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 1683 times:
It depends how you define "on schedule"....I believe most airlines (and the Civil Aviation Authority) include in the "on schedule" definition being "early to 15 minutes late".
Looking at those times, it arrived "on schedule" but departed late, so it will be reflected in their August figures (but it will be dropping thier punctuality by an insignificant fraction).
Leej From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2001, 287 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 1549 times:
I did wonder about the block times given to their flights, thinking they were excessive, so I did a search on all the other carriers flying to Dublin from the London airports (BA, EI, EZY etc) and there was no more leniancy in the FR schedules than the other carriers.
TriStar500 From Germany, joined Nov 1999, 4685 posts, RR: 47 Reply 7, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 1517 times:
Actually some carriers even schedule in a longer block time during peak hours compared to off-peak hours on the same route in order to produce reliable schedules.
This is not one of FR's dirty tricks, but rather a standard procedure within the industry.
Homer: Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!
Mozart From Luxembourg, joined Aug 2003, 2009 posts, RR: 14 Reply 9, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 1406 times:
Agree on FR being aggressive, but this one does not strike me as odd. I observed smthg similar on Lufthansa on the FRA-MUC route: it was always pencilled into the timetable as lasting smtgh like 50 mins, until one day some years back the schedule stated all flights MUC-FRA lasting between 1h10 and 1h25, and the FRA-MUC merely 55 mins. They did this I guess to indicate an arrival time they could achieve, so that connections at their FRA hub then worked out.
FR surely does not worry about transfer pax, and also I would be surprised to hear they overstate the duration of flights excessively, as they certainly cannot depart earlier. So any early arrival extends the block time until the next scheduled departure, which to my knowledge is not in FR's interest. They want to keep block times as short as possible, don't they?
BOAC From United Kingdom, joined Jul 2003, 77 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days ago) and read 1338 times:
They do frequently leave early. That is one of the benefits of operating from airports in the middle of nowhere.
There handling agent at London Stanstead (40 miles from the city) stated that they build in 15 minutes to allow for delays. They are not alone in this however - but they are more ruthless at the check in and at the gates be there in time or do not fly.
Teva From France, joined Jan 2001, 1868 posts, RR: 17 Reply 11, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 3 days ago) and read 1336 times:
2 remarks here.
* Real airline on-time performance is based on departure, not on arrival..
* Yes, when flying to large and/or congested airports, airlines take the taxi time into account.
But Ryanair flyes from small airports, where taxi time is not an issue.
Since I may have to use them next week, I will check this carefully for my flights.
Teva
Ecoute les orgues, Elles jouent pour toi...C'est le requiem pour un con
Boieng747-400 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 12, posted (9 years 8 months 3 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 1269 times:
Hey Will,
This isn't only done on ryanair but everywhere else. An example of this is at the end of July when I flew jetBlue from JFK to Las Vegas we left 35 minutes late yet arrived 40 minutes early. Same example when I flew easyJet from Geneva to London Gatwick late June, we left 15 minutes early yet arrived 35 minutes early (!), I have loads of examples like that if anyone wants more examples.
Let me conclude my post like my fellow DUB photographer does
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