Orioles and Traffic Jams

Toronto, ON--- Well, the cool thing is that while I'm waiting for my delayed Toronto-Newark flight to board, I realize that the gate just next to mine is a charter flight for the Baltimore Orioles. The bad news? I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE A SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Who can guess why they aren't challenging the Red Sox or Yankees for AL East dominance?

Even better: when they announced that our flight was delayed, they said it was because the flight crew was stuck in traffic on the way to the airport. Now, anyone that's attempted to navigate between downtown and the airport in Toronto in the early evening knows it takes FOREVER. All of us business travelers seemed to figure out a way to make it to the airport on time. Wouldn't you think the professional flying people would be able to figure that one out?!?

Airline Schedules

Cleveland, OH--- My new favorite quote from pilots, which I experienced again this evening. "Well, sorry for the delay- we're now ready to push back from the gate- and we'll try to make up some of time en route." Now as far as I'm concerned, let's always try to add some time en route. Not that I don't thoroughly enjoy row 12 of an Embraer Regional Jet, but my butt's asleep after 30 minutes in those things. If there's anything we can do to cut down on the flight time, I say go for it!

Now in all fairness, it's a question of fuel. The faster the plane goes, the more fuel it uses up. So they keep the speed down to use less fuel, and only increase the speed if it means they can increase their on-time arrival win streak. Bear in mind that many airlines like Continental build in some major buffer time into their arrival forecast so it's easier to make an "on-time" arrival, even with a delay in departure. Sigh...