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Major U.S. airlines build measurable time buffers into flight schedules, but the amount varies by route, carrier and measurement method. In a 2023 analysis of 2022 Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) records, FinanceBuzz estimated about 11 minutes of padding on a typical two-hour scheduled flight—roughly 9.1% of its scheduled duration. Those figures describe that study’s sample, not a current 2026 ranking.
What counts as flight-time padding?
An airline’s scheduled block time is the planned interval from gate departure to gate arrival. It is not the same as airborne time: actual gate-to-gate time also includes taxiing and operational delays. “Padding” is the difference between the published schedule and a chosen comparison time. That comparison might be actual elapsed time in a selected sample, an estimate of unimpeded time, or a model based on historical flight-time distributions. The definition and sample can therefore change the estimated number of minutes.
BTS collects scheduled departure and arrival times, actual gate departure and arrival times, scheduled elapsed time, actual gate-to-gate time, and the difference between scheduled and actual elapsed time. Its reporting scope covers scheduled nonstop domestic passenger operations serving reportable airports, including specified codeshare cases. These fields enable comparisons, but the difference between scheduled and actual time does not, by itself, prove that an airline intentionally padded a particular flight. See the BTS reporting definitions and directive.
How much padding did a 2022 analysis estimate?
FinanceBuzz analyzed 2022 BTS flight data in a 2023 study. Its overall estimate was about 11 minutes on a typical two-hour flight, or 9.1% of scheduled duration. The carrier comparisons were limited to the 150 highest-volume domestic routes, and the study calculated padding for flights that arrived on time or less than 15 minutes late. The data ran through November 2022.
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| Carrier | Estimated padding | Share of median scheduled flight |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest | 11 minutes | 13.9% |
| Alaska | 13 minutes | 11.3% |
| United | 13 minutes | 10.2% |
| American | 12 minutes | 9.7% |
| Delta | 10 minutes | 9.4% |
All values in the table are FinanceBuzz estimates from its 2023 analysis of 2022 BTS data and its selected route and arrival sample; they are not current carrier-wide measurements. The study found that more than 20% of flights were delayed despite the estimated buffers. Its estimate that more than 30% would have been delayed without those buffers is a counterfactual, not an observed delay rate. See FinanceBuzz’s analysis and methodology.
Why airlines schedule extra time
Gate-to-gate durations vary with weather, air-traffic congestion, airport demand and capacity, aircraft and crew availability, maintenance, boarding, fueling and other operating conditions. A buffer can make aircraft rotations and connecting schedules more resilient when actual operating time fluctuates.
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Historical research illustrates why there is no universal allowance. A 2011 MIT thesis analyzing 2,359 directional nonstop domestic routes using 2009 flight data identified distance and time of day as important correlates of padding. It also found that flights scheduled to arrive during the evening peak had the worst on-time performance despite having the most padding. That is a finding about the period and method studied, not a current airline scorecard. Read the MIT thesis.
What padding does—and does not—say about punctuality
Arrival delay is measured against the published schedule; on-time comparisons commonly allow up to 15 minutes after scheduled arrival. A longer scheduled block can therefore help a flight meet the schedule-relative on-time threshold even if its actual operating time has not become shorter. A better on-time percentage is not, on its own, evidence that the aircraft or airline operated faster.
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A peer-reviewed 2023 analysis of 11 years of U.S. domestic-carrier panel data, covering 2005–2015, found that operational improvements had the strongest association with changes in on-time performance and rankings, followed by schedule padding. Route travel-time variability moderated those effects. The study distinguishes the contribution of operational performance from the contribution of schedules; it does not establish current carrier padding amounts. See the study by Manchiraju, Sohoni and Deshpande.
Yanjun Wang, Ying Zhou, Mark Hansen and Christopher Chin summarized the trade-off in a 2019 peer-reviewed article: “A longer SBT will result in a more robust and reliable flight schedule, with fewer flights arriving later than their scheduled times.” That is the authors’ description of schedule robustness, not a government finding. Read the article.
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Why airline comparisons can mislead
A carrier’s padding figure is meaningful only alongside the way it was calculated. A sound comparison should identify:
- Baseline: whether the schedule is compared with actual gate-to-gate time, airborne time or modeled unimpeded time.
- Sample: dates, domestic or international coverage, route selection, and whether all flights or only flights near on-time are included.
- Units: both extra minutes and the percentage of scheduled duration. A percentage alone can obscure the difference between short and long routes.
- Carrier attribution: whether flights are assigned to the operating carrier or marketing carrier, and whether mainline or regional-partner service is included.
- Operating context: route distance, airport, time of day, season and the flight’s place in the aircraft’s daily rotation.
Codeshare attribution matters because the airline selling a ticket may differ from the carrier operating the flight. BTS reporting distinguishes marketed and operating carrier information in covered cases. A 2011 MIT study also found Southwest padded more extensively than the other carriers it studied, while other low-cost carriers padded less. Its older data and different method are further reasons not to treat carrier order as timeless.
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What current evidence can establish
An AirInsight article published June 17, 2026, describes a DOT-data model covering the top 20 U.S. cities and notes that the same city pair can have different scheduled block times depending on the airline. The accessible article does not provide a carrier-by-carrier numerical table, so it supports the qualitative point that schedules differ, not a current quantitative ranking. Read the AirInsight article.
The available material does not establish a consistently calculated, comparable set of major-carrier padding amounts for 2024–2026. BTS publishes the underlying fields, but a current ranking would require analyzing relevant records under one clearly stated definition and sample. General on-time percentages are not a substitute for that calculation.
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