NPR story on flight delays in New York

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I came through JFK commercially yesterday on an international connection. We arrived on time :) from London.

My outbound to DCA was scheduled for 4:05 PM. That plane arrived 10 minutes late, we boarded around 4:00, doors closed at 4:20, and we waited for another :10 for the fuel truck to come and finish. We then waited another :10 for them to find a tug and push us back. So we started :35 late.

Had a record fast taxi to become #5 for takeoff, wheels up by 5:00, and landed at DCA at 5:50 for an on-time arrival at 5:55. Then waited :10 more for them to find a ground crew to unload the gate-checked carry-ons (it was a CRJ).

So, :30 minutes of the overall delays were caused by ground crew, not ATC, airspace, or runway problems. Sadly, despite that, we technically arrived on-time, and were only :10 later than expected (in terms of actually setting foot in the terminal) due to the lack of ground crew at DCA.
 
On time connections out of JFK? I've been through there 8 times this year and not had one.

You must have some special magic, Mr. Suffa :rofl:

I missed going to London by mere inches yesterday. As in, "Andrew, one day meeting, fly out tonight, meet, fly home next night". Thankfully, we had a videoconference set up :yes:

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
astanley said:
On time connections out of JFK? I've been through there 8 times this year and not had one.

You must have some special magic, Mr. Suffa :rofl:
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On-time arrival at DCA: the luck of a schedule that's 1:50 block time. When I was a kid, the EA DC-6 used to run a 1:15 block time. We've gone backward..... (as a kid, it was an EA Connie or DC-6 from DCA to Idlewild, then an AA DC-3 or Convair from JFK to PVD. Back when PVD was 2 gates.

I missed going to London by mere inches yesterday. As in, "Andrew, one day meeting, fly out tonight, meet, fly home next night". Thankfully, we had a videoconference set up :yes:
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Had you made it a day earlier, and it would have been too bad that we couldn't hoist one on the plane together. We probably ought to keep up with each other's schedules because I have no doubt that we'll pass in an airport somewhere without knowing.

My trip was 2 days - out Monday night, back yesterday. No teleconference possible. Thank goodness for the really nice /I] arrivals lounge & shower at Gatwick.

At London prices, I didn't have a lot of interest in staying extra time.
 
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