客机越飞越慢？航企为规避赔偿，对航班时间进行“增肥”

过去十年，飞行技术不断发展，但是飞机的飞行速度却似乎“变慢”了。调查发现，英国航空公司公布的航线计划飞行时间越来越长，并声称这是为了改善准点率。不光是英国，为了规避航班延误赔偿而对航班时间进行“增肥”已经成为全球惯例，导致乘客面临在飞机上干等或无人接机等尴尬状况。我们来看英国《卫报》的报道：

Plane journeys are taking longer than a decade ago, according to a report that claims the change is down to airlines “padding” their schedules to create the impression passengers were reaching their destinations on time.

与十年前相比，坐飞机出行的时间变长了。一份报告声称，这一变化是因为航空公司对它们的航班时刻表进行了“增肥”，以制造乘客按时抵达目的地的印象。

Carriers are adding extra time to flight schedules, in some cases up to 30 minutes, to ensure they maintain punctuality and are therefore less likely to be liable for compensation payouts, the investigation by Which? Travel claimed.

消费者杂志《Which? Travel》进行调查后声称，航空公司将航班时刻表延长，在某些情况下，延长最高达到30分钟，以确保它们能够保持航班准点，由此，它们对乘客承担赔偿责任的几率也降低了。

The majority of flight routes are advertised as taking longer than 10 years ago, despite improvements in aircraft technology, the report found.

《Which? Travel》的报告发现，尽管这些年来飞机技术改进，但大部分公布的航线飞行时间却比10年前长了。

Researchers examined average flight times for 125 routes operated by large airlines in 2009 and compared them with last year. They found that 76 routes, 61%, were now slated to take longer; with 87% of British Airways flights analyzed found to be slower. That proportion was 82% for Ryanair, 75% for Virgin Atlantic and 62% for easyJet.

研究人员分析了2009年大型航空公司运营的125条航线的平均飞行时间，并将它们与去年的数据进行对比。结果发现，有76条航线，也就是61%的航线，现在的飞行时间变长了。对英国航空的航班进行分析后发现，英航87%的航班变慢了。瑞安航空、维珍大西洋航空和易捷航空飞行时间增加的航班占比分别为82%、75%和62%。

BA flights from Heathrow to Bangkok, New York and Singapore were extended by 20 minutes, and a Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow to Newark Liberty airport now takes an average of 35 minutes longer.

英航希思罗飞曼谷、纽约和新加坡的航班延长了20分钟，维珍大西洋航空从希思罗飞纽瓦克自由机场的航班现在平均飞行时间增加了35分钟。

Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “Passengers are likely to feel that schedule padding is another case of airlines pulling the wool over their eyes.

《Which? Travel》主编罗里·博兰表示：“乘客很可能会觉得，航班时刻表‘增肥’是航空公司对乘客耍的新把戏。”

"Carriers are quick to claim that adding 10, 20 and even 30 minutes to flights will improve on-time performance. The accompanying slump in punctuality over recent years suggests it hasn’t helped much.

“航空公司声称，将航班时间增加10、20甚至是30分钟，将会改善准点率。但近年来准点率的下滑表明这样做并未起到多大作用。”

"Instead, longer scheduled flight times are likely to mean passengers spend more time sitting around at the gate or on the plane itself, just so the airline can pat itself on the back for being ‘on time’ at your destination.

“相反，更长的计划飞行时间很可能意味着乘客要花更多的时间坐在登机口附近或飞机上面，这样航空公司就可以自夸保证了‘航班准点’。”

"Conveniently, it could also reduce the number of instances when an airline has to pay you compensation for a flight delay.”

“另外，这样也可以减少航空公司因为航班延误而向乘客支付赔偿的情况。”

According to Which?, BA, easyJet and Ryanair were all less punctual last year than in 2009, with easyJet recording a 10% fall in punctuality during the eight-year period.

据《Which?》杂志的数据显示，英航、易捷和瑞安去年的准点率都低于2009年，易捷在八年间的准点率下降了10%。

Airlines told the consumer magazine their aircraft were flying at slower speeds to reduce fuel consumption and that this allowed them to offer cheaper fares.

英国航企们表示，它们的飞机飞行速度变慢是为了减少燃油消耗，而且这样一来他们还可以提供更便宜的机票。

BA also told Which? that air traffic control congestion was a factor, with European skies now much busier than 10 years ago.

英航还对《Which?》杂志表示，空中交通拥堵也是一个因素，与十年前相比，欧洲空域现在要繁忙得多。

European Union rules stipulate that passengers can claim up to €600 if their flights is delayed by more than three hours; however, airlines do not have to compensate travellers for circumstances outside their control, such as bad weather.

欧盟法规规定，如果航班延误超过三小时，乘客最高可以索赔600欧元（4781元人民币）。但是，对于超出航空公司控制的情形，比如恶劣天气，航空公司无需对旅客进行赔偿。

为了规避航班延误，免于赔偿，航空公司故意延长航班时间这一招已经成了全球的“惯例”，也由此带来了一系列“怪象”，引发乘客不满。最常见的就是飞机“提前到达”，导致接机“不及时”。比如本来按照正常飞行可以11时到的飞机，在机票上却打成11时30分到，结果飞机飞行正常了，就会出现“提前到”。

更长的计划飞行时间意味着许多航空公司会上演“关舱门游戏”。机票上载明的航班时间是飞机关舱门时间，不是飞机起飞的时间；而飞机关闭舱门后，滑行到跑道，等到起飞指令起飞，还需要一段时间。这种按照关舱门计算航班时间的方式是国际惯例。有业内人士透露，只要关了舱门，飞机再延误就与航空公司无关了。也就是说，关闭舱门后出现的飞机延误，一般航空公司不予理赔。这样一来，乘客很有可能会在机舱里“干等”。

所以，航班准点率高，有时候仅仅是“看上去很美”。