bad day at the officd
I used to travel on the LHR-FRA route regularly back in the early 2000s. Long taxis at FRA were common and one time I recall we taxied for 45 minutes so a 17 minute delay doesn't sound too bad!
good heavens.
Just wait til those engines are at takeoff thrust. THEN we are talking about burning tons of fuel.
Maybe you, mr. pilot, should let LH headquarters figure out how to pay the fuel bill for those beasts and your "job" is to relish in the status of flying them while they remain in the fleet.
We are not talking about a 17 min queuing in a long line of departures (standard scenario). We are talking about a 17min standstill an the hold short line of the runway in first position to depart (even unusual for the US).
I've personally observed 15+ minute delays #1 at the runway as far back as 2019. This isn't new (and I'm confident it wasn't new then, either). It's not every hour or even necessarily every day, but it's long been common enough that a sudden barrage of public concern is misinformed at best, manufactured at worst.
They also have to let planes take off on Rwy 1 L/R. So while they may have been first in line on 28 other planes could also be squeezing in for take off perpendicular.
It's who-knows-how-long taxi plus 17 minutes wasted on the runway. The pilot right, that is crazy.
But, American airports are known for terrible taxis and queues and everything.
They ordered the plane. Deal with it.
The flight log shows landing at Munich at 5:11pm, and arrival at the gate at 5:26pm. So, it took 15 minutes to taxi to the gate. How much fuel was burned on that trip? A couple days later, it took only six minutes after landing, to get to the gate. Some days are just more efficient in Munich, than others?
17 minutes to a German or Swiss is a lifetime. HOWEVER... Have they ever flow out of FRA or MUC?