Confused about length of flight

[Minnesota!]

Hi -

So I track my flight on www.flightaware.com pretty much daily (I am obsessed,what can I say?).

Anyway, the average flight time for my flight is 1:50. From MSP - ATL. So, our flight leaving MSP departs at 6:52a CST, right. Using that average, we should be getting to ATL at approx 9:42a EST.

However, our flighttime on Airtran.com says we land at 1030a EST. Where is the extra 48 minutes coming in? Am I missing something?

Thanks!!

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Because we are east coast time and you are central.
In MN right now it's about 5:05pm but here in ATL it's 6:05pm.

I've got family in MN and have to keep an eye on the time when I call them. Mom doesn't like it when I accidently call her at 7am. LOL

[Thumper_Man]

GaSBF said it all. You lose an hour for each time zone when you're flying west to east. And vice versa, you gain an hour when flying east to west. You'll be leaving at 6:52a your time, but will get to Atl. at 10:30a their time.

[chrisxtwo]

Umm, no. She already accounted for the time zone difference. My guess is that flight time is 1h50m but they add time for taxi to and from the runway and gate.

[Emmabean2000]

I agree with the taxi time. I have noticed that more in the past few years, airline companies adding time to flights, so that it appears they have improved "on time" statistics.

[DebbieB]

Yup, taxi time. Flightaware is only wheels off the ground. The timetable is from the time the plane backs up until it arrives at the gate at the destination. MSP and ATL can have long taxi times, especially at takeoff.

[dudspizza]

DebbieB has it right. All of those flight tracking sites are from take off to landing... they don't take into account the time you sit on the plane after they close the door or taxi time to and from the gate. Plus, all airlines pad their flight times a bit to make up for any unforseen issues in flight......

[bgohre]

NW is even showing 2 hours 50 minutes for their flight. The PP'ers were right about taxi time.

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Actually... they're padded for the foreseeable issues.

Originally Posted by dudspizza

DebbieB has it right. All of those flight tracking sites are from take off to landing... they don't take into account the time you sit on the plane after they close the door or taxi time to and from the gate. Plus, all airlines pad their flight times a bit to make up for any unforseen issues in flight......

[DebbieB]

Originally Posted by ExPirateShopGirl

Actually... they're padded for the foreseeable issues.

Their ontime stats are based on arrival time, not departure, so padding the schedule happens. My flight in 2 weeks increased by about 10 minutes after I booked it, even though it's the same model plane and same departure time.

[Minnesota!]

thanks! That's what I thought, but wasn't sure! So, in all reality, if we are able to get right off the ground at 652 and taxi right to our gate as we land in ATL, we will have about a 2 hour layover (flight to MCO is at 1200pm).

I thought I was losing my mind with the first couple reponses - I could have sworn I had accounted for time change!

Thanks all!

[backyardponder]

A number of years ago on time arrival time started being reported. Airlines wanted to minimize the number of times they were "late"...so, they added about 20 minutes to each leg of their schedule...and lo and behold! Their on time performance improved!

[DebbieB]

Originally Posted by Minnesota!

thanks! That's what I thought, but wasn't sure! So, in all reality, if we are able to get right off the ground at 652 and taxi right to our gate as we land in ATL, we will have about a 2 hour layover (flight to MCO is at 1200pm).

I thought I was losing my mind with the first couple reponses - I could have sworn I had accounted for time change!

Thanks all!

Take a look at the flight status on AirTran's site for today. The arrival time they show would be at the gate and compare it to flightaware. That would tell you how long it took to taxi in. An issue that happens frequently if a flight arrives early is the previous plane is still at the gate and your plane has to sit and wait for it to push back and clear the gate.

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Flight schedule changes resulting in the addition or subtraction of a few minutes are typically the result of local ops, route, slot or gate assignment changes. Ontime stats are also calculated on the time a flight pushes back, not just arrival.

Originally Posted by DebbieB

Their ontime stats are based on arrival time, not departure, so padding the schedule happens. My flight in 2 weeks increased by about 10 minutes after I booked it, even though it's the same model plane and same departure time.