Flight secrets often reveal some of the most disgusting secrets onboard a plane.
From dirty tray tables to unwashed water tanks, it could put most people off travelling.
For those who still love the thrill of being in the air, it has recently been revealed why airlines rarely give the exact journey time of a flight.
It is all to do with preventing delays which will affect an airlines on-time flight performance.
Called “schedule-padding”, airlines often give flight times that are longer than the journey will actually take.
This can help airlines to stay on time and not be classed as delayed, even if problems arise.
From planes being held on the tarmac to delayed passengers, the “padding” is given to account for this.
A journey is still counted as on time if it lands up to 15 minutes later than its stated arrival, so the additional padding time given to the journey can help keep to a schedule.
An AirTrain Airways pilot told Reader’s Digest: “Airlines really have adjusted their flight arrival times so they can have a better record of on-time arrivals.
“So they might say a flight takes two hours when it really takes an hour and 45 minutes.”
A report earlier this year by The Telegraph found that flight times have increased since 1996, despite aviation and technology progression.
With some flights such as London to Edinburgh taking ten minutes longer in the past twenty years., it is thought that this is due to overcompensating schedule-padding.
It was recently revealed how to tell if a flight is going to be delayed.
Former pilot Patrick Smith told Business Insider what word to look out for from the flight attendant.
The words are “last minute paperwork” which the pilots and flight attendants will use.
He explains how this is due to a revision of a flight plan that they need to organise.
