With United’s Test Program, You Have to Be on Time

Seeking to improve its rate of on-time departures and arrivals, United Airlines today begins closing and securing doors on its aircraft five minutes before scheduled departure times, the airline reports. The new program, to be tested now through May, means that unless flights are delayed by weather or air traffic control problems, United passengers showing up later than five minutes before scheduled departure times may be turned away from flights.

“It’ll have to be implemented on a case-by-case basis,” airline spokesman Joe Hopkins said. Hopkins said United implemented the program in part to improve its industry on-time performance record, which placed the airline seventh last year in a Department of Transportation survey of air carriers. In November, also in an effort to improve on-time performance, the airline added five minutes to flight times from connector cities to hub airports, Hopkins said.