There was a time when my flights from Dallas to Houston were scheduled for 55 minutes. Sadly, those days are gone. The Dallas to Houston flight is now scheduled for an hour. While the added five minutes from Big D to H-town might not seem like much cause for outrage, it’s representative of what’s happening on a much larger scale throughout the country. Flights are getting longer. Or at least they’re being scheduled that way.

So, what’s the cause? Has the wind changed? Is America expanding? No. The cause is congestion at the airports and the growing number of delays the airlines are experiencing. In order to keep their on-time rates up, the airlines have simply started working delays into the flight schedule.

The Wall Street Journal had a great piece on the subject back in May where they broke down the changes in flight times between major markets that have occurred over the last ten years:

“A check of two dozen flights from June airline schedules found that “block times” — the time airlines allot in their schedules for the trip — are about 10% higher than they were in June 1997.”

One of the highlights is the JFK to Reagan Airport trip that’s 44 minutes longer than it was a decade ago. Most experts agree that you can actually fly from NY to DC in about 35 minutes.

When based on a value of time system, it’s believed that traditional delays and these new planned delays cost travelers billions of dollars a year. It’s also clear that these types of airline practices lead to even more frustration on the part of passengers.

The jets get faster, but the trips get longer. However, there is hope that as more runways are added to major airports, and as new routes and new technology are put in place, more realistic flight times will reemerge. In the meantime, just prepare yourself to for a longer day of flying, and know that “on- time” doesn’t quite mean what it used to.