客機(jī)越飛越慢？航企為規(guī)避賠償，對(duì)航班時(shí)間進(jìn)行“增肥”
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.
與十年前相比，坐飛機(jī)出行的時(shí)間變長(zhǎng)了。一份報(bào)告聲稱，這一變化是因?yàn)楹娇展緦?duì)它們的航班時(shí)刻表進(jìn)行了“增肥”，以制造乘客按時(shí)抵達(dá)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.
消費(fèi)者雜志《Which? Travel》進(jìn)行調(diào)查后聲稱，航空公司將航班時(shí)刻表延長(zhǎng)，在某些情況下，延長(zhǎng)最高達(dá)到30分鐘，以確保它們能夠保持航班準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)，由此，它們對(duì)乘客承擔(dān)賠償責(zé)任的幾率也降低了。
The majority of flight routes are advertised as taking longer than 10 years ago, despite improvements in aircraft technology, the report found.
《Which? Travel》的報(bào)告發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管這些年來飛機(jī)技術(shù)改進(jìn)，但大部分公布的航線飛行時(shí)間卻比10年前長(zhǎng)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.
研究人員分析了2009年大型航空公司運(yùn)營(yíng)的125條航線的平均飛行時(shí)間，并將它們與去年的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行對(duì)比。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，有76條航線，也就是61%的航線，現(xiàn)在的飛行時(shí)間變長(zhǎng)了。對(duì)英國(guó)航空的航班進(jìn)行分析后發(fā)現(xiàn)，英航87%的航班變慢了。瑞安航空、維珍大西洋航空和易捷航空飛行時(shí)間增加的航班占比分別為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.
英航希思羅飛曼谷、紐約和新加坡的航班延長(zhǎng)了20分鐘，維珍大西洋航空從希思羅飛紐瓦克自由機(jī)場(chǎng)的航班現(xiàn)在平均飛行時(shí)間增加了35分鐘。
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》主編羅里·博蘭表示：“乘客很可能會(huì)覺得，航班時(shí)刻表‘增肥’是航空公司對(duì)乘客耍的新把戲。”
"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.
“航空公司聲稱，將航班時(shí)間增加10、20甚至是30分鐘，將會(huì)改善準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率。但近年來準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率的下滑表明這樣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，更長(zhǎng)的計(jì)劃飛行時(shí)間很可能意味著乘客要花更多的時(shí)間坐在登機(jī)口附近或飛機(jī)上面，這樣航空公司就可以自夸保證了‘航班準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)’。”
"Conveniently, it could also reduce the number of instances when an airline has to pay you compensation for a flight delay.”
“另外，這樣也可以減少航空公司因?yàn)楹桨嘌诱`而向乘客支付賠償?shù)那闆r。”
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.
據(jù)《Which?》雜志的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，英航、易捷和瑞安去年的準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率都低于2009年，易捷在八年間的準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)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.
英國(guó)航企們表示，它們的飛機(jī)飛行速度變慢是為了減少燃油消耗，而且這樣一來他們還可以提供更便宜的機(jī)票。
BA also told Which? that air traffic control congestion was a factor, with European skies now much busier than 10 years ago.
英航還對(duì)《Which?》雜志表示，空中交通擁堵也是一個(gè)因素，與十年前相比，歐洲空域現(xiàn)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.
歐盟法規(guī)規(guī)定，如果航班延誤超過三小時(shí)，乘客最高可以索賠600歐元(4781元人民幣)。但是，對(duì)于超出航空公司控制的情形，比如惡劣天氣，航空公司無需對(duì)旅客進(jìn)行賠償。
為了規(guī)避航班延誤，免于賠償，航空公司故意延長(zhǎng)航班時(shí)間這一招已經(jīng)成了全球的“慣例”，也由此帶來了一系列“怪象”，引發(fā)乘客不滿。最常見的就是飛機(jī)“提前到達(dá)”，導(dǎo)致接機(jī)“不及時(shí)”。比如本來按照正常飛行可以11時(shí)到的飛機(jī)，在機(jī)票上卻打成11時(shí)30分到，結(jié)果飛機(jī)飛行正常了，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)“提前到”。
更長(zhǎng)的計(jì)劃飛行時(shí)間意味著許多航空公司會(huì)上演“關(guān)艙門游戲”。機(jī)票上載明的航班時(shí)間是飛機(jī)關(guān)艙門時(shí)間，不是飛機(jī)起飛的時(shí)間;而飛機(jī)關(guān)閉艙門后，滑行到跑道，等到起飛指令起飛，還需要一段時(shí)間。這種按照關(guān)艙門計(jì)算航班時(shí)間的方式是國(guó)際慣例。有業(yè)內(nèi)人士透露，只要關(guān)了艙門，飛機(jī)再延誤就與航空公司無關(guān)了。也就是說，關(guān)閉艙門后出現(xiàn)的飛機(jī)延誤，一般航空公司不予理賠。這樣一來，乘客很有可能會(huì)在機(jī)艙里“干等”。
所以，航班準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)率高，有時(shí)候僅僅是“看上去很美”。
