Occasionally an air connection arrives at its destination an hour earlier than expected. Situation greeted with jubilation by the passengers, with lots of applause for the pilot upon landing, after the captain announced that the strong tailwind accelerated the journey. But there is something more: named "Schedule Creep" it is a relatively widespread practice.

According to a study by the financial portal "Finance Buzz", some airlines are adding extra time to their flight schedules in recent years. The aim would be to avoid delays and therefore protests from passengers. In short, the announced flight duration would be longer than what an aircraft actually needs to cover that distance, including boarding and taxiing times.

The analysis leads the experts to quantify this time on average with +10%. The main reason for this situation is regulatory: the American Bureau of Transportation Statistics defines a flight delay as when an airplane lands 15 minutes after the scheduled time. This allows the airlines, explained by "Finance Buzz", to have more flexible reimbursement policies for travellers.