With the data for February published, here’s our US air travel planner update. The age-old advice applies: If the schedule is important, take the earliest flight you can.
- The greener the better. The table shows a lot of yellow and red.
- JetBlue is struggling as they approach midday – probably a JFK issue that impacts their entire schedule.
- The big four have a good amount of green – but the ULCCs struggle as the day grows longer.
As a reminder, delayed arrivals are not free. There is a real cost associated with a late arrival – the entire schedule is impacted and lost time cannot be made up during the day. For a guide to the cost of delays please note the table below. It is entirely reasonable to assume 2022 costs are higher than 2021.Â
To hammer the point, we see a lot of arrival delays. Our 2022 cost estimates project from 2021. On average, delayed arrival costs are equivalent to three fares. Arrive late, and incur operating costs equivalent to losing three paying customers. That is how thin the margin is. Airlines must keep their flight ops running on time because the alternative is expensive. Delays are expensive, and that excludes passenger costs.
