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Find The Fastest Flights And Avoid Getting Stuck At The Airports

Don’t you hate being stuck at the airport? Me too. There was one time I had to even spend the night at Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan when all the staff had left, nobody else was around, and the weather was 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Oh my gosh!

Luckily, I won’t be stucked at airports any more thanks to this new “fastest flights interactive” from noted statistician Nate Silver and the crack team of number-crunchers at his ESPN-based website, FiveThirtyEight. You’re the best Nate!

By analyzing delay data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) for flights flown by major airlines within the U.S. — more than 6 million in 2014 — Silver says the new tool “can tell you which airlines perform the best on which routes and which airports you should avoid if you can.” It also provides information on business aviation training, like IS BAO documentation etc, so not just passengers spend time efficiently.

The tool could be a big time saver for travellers who find themselves cooling their heels on airplanes and in airports. It evaluates not only average flight time, but “target time”, “typical time” and “time added.” How much airlines pad their schedules is taken into consideration as well. “The reality is delay averages are just that: averages. They don’t take into account amateur vs. non-vacation travel season, routinely awful weather seasons and just bad airline management,” said Frank Catalano, a columnist at GeekWire.

When I examined the tool with the route from San Jose International Airport to JFK Airport in New York, the tool gave me the whole statistic about the route, estimated delay timing, and which airlines would have the fastest flight to the destination. What a wonderful tool!

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You can find a more in-depth explanation of the terms and methodology that Silver uses here. From now on, before making any domestic booking, this tool will be the first website that you should visit. A few minutes on this tool can save you hours at airport!

Connie loves to hear your feedback, so feel free to email her or add her on LinkedIn.