How Do Pilots 'Make Up' Time During Flights?

Because of the way flights are routed, pilots are sometimes able shave a few minutes from a flight plan while in the air. Learn why just flying faster wouldn't work in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/do-pilots-make-up-time-in-air.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
learn vogel bomb here. Let's say you've just started the
first leg of a flight and you're a little bit
on edge because it was delayed. Are you going to
miss your connection? But as you taxi to the runway,
the pilot's voice booms over the intercom, giving you fresh hope.

(00:24):
They say they may be able to make up lost
time during the trip. But how on Earth or in
the atmosphere do commercial airline pilots make up for lost
time when a flight is running behind? Are they pressing
extra hard on the accelerator. There are actually a number
of ways that pilots can get you and your fellow

(00:46):
passengers to your next stop ahead of schedule spoiler alert,
and none of them involve weird sci fi wormholes or
top gun reenactments. When pilots need to catch up on
their schedules, they must first alert air traffic control regarding
the situation. Air Traffic control, of course, provides guidance and
direction for all flights to ensure maximum safety and efficiency,

(01:09):
and without their go ahead, your pilot can't do anything
to make the flight more expedious. But when air traffic
control and pilots coordinate, they may find some wiggle room
in the flight plan. That's because flight plans are rarely
straight lines from point A to point B. Instead, there
is a series of waypoints that guide the plane along

(01:29):
to its destination. By omitting a waypoint or two, called
direct routing, the pilot might be able to shave several
minutes from a flight plan. For the article. This episode
is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke via email with
Jim Cox, a retired US Airways pilot who now operates
an aviation safety consulting company called Safety Operating Systems. He

(01:53):
explained that root adjustments are common in the industry. He
explained air traffic control has preferred routing out of and
into large cities. They require that routing be the filed
flight plan routing. Depending on traffic, air traffic control may
approve a request to shorten the flight path between navigation waypoints.

(02:14):
This means that with shorter flights, there isn't much a
pilot can do to save time. Longer flights are a
better bet for pilots that need to make time up.
In addition to the route itself, wind conditions greatly affect
flight time A significant headwind blowing against the plane will
slow the plane's overall speed. A tailwind pushing the plane

(02:37):
can reduce flight time. If pilots can't avoid headwinds, they'll
do their best to minimize its effects on the plane.
Prevailing winds tend to blow from west to east in
many parts of the world, so airlines tend to choose
the most efficient routes given typical winds for the time
of day or even by the season. On days when

(02:57):
the prevailing winds veer in a different direction, the pilots
may find that their flight time drops significantly compared with
days or weeks earlier. So airline routes that go from
west to east might allow a pilot to use the
wind to save time, assuming whether conditions are favorable. You
generally won't find wing conditions helping with north south roots.

(03:19):
Though you might wonder why pilots don't simply increase the
plane's speed to make up for time. That's because modern
airliners are already built to fly at whatever the craft's
optimum maximum speed is. Simply increasing the plane's speed would
accomplish little in terms of time savings and burn a
lot more of the airline's most precious and costly resource fuel.

(03:43):
Even on very long flights, accelerating burns hundreds of extra
pounds of fuel and saves at best only minutes on
overall trip time. As you consider your schedule, keep in
mind the airlines measure trip time using various terms, including
flight time and block time. Block time includes things like

(04:05):
taxiing and takeoff trips to and from. Busy airports like
in Atlanta or New York City have more cushion built
into their block time to give pilots a better chance
of reaching their destinations on time. It's during your actual
flight time, when the wheels aren't touching the ground, that
your pilot may be able to cut a few corners
and get you there more quickly. Also, we should note

(04:29):
here that the airline industry isn't really built for changes
to schedules, even if it seems like getting in early
would generally be favorable. After all, there's a limited amount
of airport infrastructure and workers available to process flights. For instance,
if there are fifteen gates for disembarking passengers, a sixteenth
plane that arrives early has nowhere to go. Similarly, ground

(04:53):
crews can only handle so much luggage at once, meaning
passengers might arrive ahead of schedule but then have nothing
to do but pace around waiting at baggage claim. Interestingly,
even though engine technologies have vastly improved, commercial airliners haven't
gotten any faster since the nineteen sixties, and in many cases,

(05:14):
modern planes are actually a little bit slower than their ancestors.
It all boils down to engine efficiency, drag, and fuel costs.
Airlines operate on exacting profit margins, and fuel is a
major expense. Today's episode is based on the article how

(05:35):
do pilots make up time in the air on how
stuffworks dot com, written by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff is
production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com
and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.