EWR-ORD gate-to-gate 3 hours?
Feb 8, 20, 12:22 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: KEWR
Programs: Marriott Platinum
Posts: 731
Block times very from 2:40 to nearly 3:00 EWR/ORD depending on the time of day for departure.
Flight time is roughly around two hours, additional padding is based on the historical taxi times during peak rush hour periods.
Flight time is roughly around two hours, additional padding is based on the historical taxi times during peak rush hour periods.
Feb 8, 20, 12:29 pm
#4
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Tucson, Southern Arizona, North America, Western Hemisphere, The Earth, a small planet in the solar system. Previously OnePass Infinite Platinum Elite, now over entitled 1K
Posts: 2,284
I remember years ago on a United EWR-ORD flight in the winter we were told that we were flying at 18,000' because of headwinds of up to 250 mph.
Feb 8, 20, 12:38 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2010
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1 hour for the inevitable EWR ground hold which made inbound flight late.
0.5 hour to get away from the gate, taxi, wait in line for takeoff before actually taking off.
1.25 hour to fly to Lake Michigan, turn left and land.
0.25 hour to drive around all of the taxiways of ORD to get to C32.
David
0.5 hour to get away from the gate, taxi, wait in line for takeoff before actually taking off.
1.25 hour to fly to Lake Michigan, turn left and land.
0.25 hour to drive around all of the taxiways of ORD to get to C32.
David
Feb 8, 20, 12:44 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: EDI/GLA
Programs: DL 2 MM Unobtainum | UA 1.1MM Gold | MR Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 2,170
1 hour for the inevitable EWR ground hold which made inbound flight late.
0.5 hour to get away from the gate, taxi, wait in line for takeoff before actually taking off.
1.25 hour to fly to Lake Michigan, turn left and land.
0.25 hour to drive around all of the taxiways of ORD to get to C32.
David
0.5 hour to get away from the gate, taxi, wait in line for takeoff before actually taking off.
1.25 hour to fly to Lake Michigan, turn left and land.
0.25 hour to drive around all of the taxiways of ORD to get to C32.
David
Feb 8, 20, 2:55 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 8,627
The schedule padding can get a bit ridiculous. It's not limited to UA either - I was blocked for 1h20m on an ATL-CLT hop on DL, and I arrived almost 30 minutes early. That's close to 50% of the block time!
Feb 8, 20, 3:28 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: KEWR
Programs: Marriott Platinum
Posts: 731
Simply put, it does not help the airline to over estimate block times. It costs the airline more money in crew costs every minute that is padded. Additionally, duty limits are based on these block times and artificially increasing them only exasperates the chance of a crew “timing out.”
Feb 8, 20, 3:35 pm
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,268
DOT requires that the block times reflect the reality. It is far from "padding" to include the times above. Sure, it means an early arrival on occasion, but nobody has a crystal ball.
UA has an economic interest in accurate scheduling.
UA has an economic interest in accurate scheduling.
Feb 8, 20, 5:22 pm
#10
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 59
You guys want to know how accurate block times are my block vs credit over last 9 months is within 4 minutes. So from brakedrop to brake application at the gate over 600 hours of flighttime is 4 minutes less than i was scheduled. Im pretty sure block is just historical average.
Granted im a regional pilot but im pretty sure daddy united sets the block.
Edit i cant math apparently and 4 hours not mins leaving error up. Luckily i fly better than i interpret spreadsheets
Grand Total: Scheduled: 612:12 Actual: 607:52 -4:-20
Granted im a regional pilot but im pretty sure daddy united sets the block.
Edit i cant math apparently and 4 hours not mins leaving error up. Luckily i fly better than i interpret spreadsheets
Grand Total: Scheduled: 612:12 Actual: 607:52 -4:-20
Last edited by Falconkidding; Feb 8, 20 at 8:18 pm
Feb 8, 20, 7:12 pm
#11
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: DL Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 623
I was on DL a few weeks ago during that huge NE storm from JFK to ORD. De-icing took 45 min and was another 15 till take off. Captain went way south due to headwinds. Flight time ended up being 2:40. Then the endless taxi once landed in ORD. Whole ordeal was just few mins shy of 4 hours. I don't think its unreasonable at all for a winter/spring schedule.
Feb 8, 20, 7:17 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: PAE
Posts: 300
You guys want to know how accurate block times are my block vs credit over last 9 months is within 4 minutes. So from brakedrop to brake application at the gate over 600 hours of flighttime is 4 minutes less than i was scheduled. Im pretty sure block is just historical average.
Granted im a regional pilot but im pretty sure daddy united sets the block.
Grand Total: Scheduled: 612:12 Actual: 607:52 -4:-20
Granted im a regional pilot but im pretty sure daddy united sets the block.
Grand Total: Scheduled: 612:12 Actual: 607:52 -4:-20
Feb 9, 20, 7:42 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Yeah, I was going to say this is pretty normal. Especially when you can end up taxiing for 10+ miles (I'm exaggerating) at ORD.
Feb 9, 20, 4:20 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Federal Way, WA
Programs: Mileage Plus 2P, Marriott Silver, many others
Posts: 1,267
Don't know if it's still the case, but in the past the guideline from the gummint was that flights were expected to arrive "on time" (within 15 minutes of schedule) at least 85% of the time. Since it's impossible to predict a specific day's weather 9 months in advance, it's obviously necessary to use historical averages for winds, taxi in and taxi out times, etc.
It does seem to me, though, that the requirements should be more flexible as a flight gets longer. Having 15 minutes leeway on a 1-hour flight is nothing; having to adhere to the same limit on a 10+ hour flight is another matter!
It does seem to me, though, that the requirements should be more flexible as a flight gets longer. Having 15 minutes leeway on a 1-hour flight is nothing; having to adhere to the same limit on a 10+ hour flight is another matter!
