Here’s something that’s inconsequential, but that I can’t help but be curious about…
SWISS flight pushed forward by five minutes?!
Last night, I flew SWISS’ A220 business class from Zurich to Amsterdam (after crossing the Atlantic in SWISS’ 777 first class). A bit before my scheduled boarding time, I checked the departures monitor in the lounge, and noticed that there was an updated flight time listed next to my flight, as well as next to another flight.
When you see an updated flight time listed in red next to your scheduled flight time, it’s usually not good news. However, in this case the updated departure time was five minutes ahead of schedule for both flights.
For what it’s worth, it wasn’t just the departures monitor in the lounge that listed this updated departure time, but the gate had a similar note.
The flight did end up departing a bit ahead of schedule, but then again, so do many flights. The flight was also quite empty, which I imagine contributed to that.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before
With day of departure flight changes, the departure time is almost always pushed back. In rare instances, maybe we see flights pushed forward significantly for a good reason, like a destination airport closing, anticipated bad weather, etc.
However, I don’t recall ever seeing a departures board showing a flight departing just five minutes ahead of schedule, as that seems random. So I’m curious, has anyone seen this before, and/or does anyone have insights into the logic for this?
The best explanation I can come up with is that SWISS knew the flight was quite empty, so figured the flight would depart ahead of schedule, and the departures board was updated to reflect that. However, if that were the case, you’d think we’d see this a lot more often. So I wonder if displaying this was a glitch, if I’ve been living under a rock, or what.
Like I said, this really doesn’t matter, but curiosity is getting the best of me. I pride myself in typically having answers to all the airline questions that don’t actually matter (“why does the A320 make a barking noise?”), though this one stumped me. 😉
Bottom line
My SWISS flight last night showed as departing five minutes early, as did another flight at the same time. Maybe this is common and I just haven’t noticed it, but I don’t think so.
Can someone help me solve this (minor) mystery?!
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.