Should Stop Using The Deceptive Term "Direct Flight"

The difference between non-stop and direct flights has been a topic of debate over the past few days.

A non-stop flight takes off from one city and lands in another. If you want to fly between those cities, you have to land somewhere else first. It's possible that it's just a connection to another plane, but the new plane still has the same flight number.

Jamie Baker and Seth Miller are the main characters in the online drama, with Baker arguing that the concept of direct flights is deceptive and Miller suggesting that the practice is fine if an airline complies with the guidelines of industry lobbying arm IATA.

This all started because Qantas called the AKL-JFK flight direct. The airline, not the media. Emirates did it this week, too.

Nonstop is, per IATA definitions, a subset of direct.

I'm done here. Go fight with someone else about something stupid.

— Seth Miller (@WandrMe) August 26, 2022

Why Direct Flights Once Made Sense

Railroads used the trains of one on the tracks of another to begin interchange service. What routes airlines could fly was dictated by the government. Planes couldn't fly all the time. There was one plane through-service across the routes of both airlines. This was a type of flight.

The United Airlines and Western Airlines entered into an agreement in 1939 to provide overnight service between New York and Los Angeles. They swapped planes in Utah. United didn't have the authority to fly from the East Coast to Los Angeles because it didn't have its own plane. It was the same-plane service all the way from Salt Lake to Southern California with the advent of the interchange agreement.

The same plane interchange service between Miami and Los Angeles was agreed to by American Airlines and Delta. The approval was given in 1949.

Single plane service was the other form of direct flight because aircraft weren't yet advanced enough to fly non-stop across the country and routes weren't mature enough to pick up and drop off passengers.

They Became Deceptive

Airlines created their own computer reservation systems and placed them in travel agencies, who would sell tickets using the system's owners' preferences. Since a higher display position was more likely to lead to a sale, airlines worked to 'game' which flights appeared first in results. Direct flights were meant to appear more desirable in order to make it appear that the flights were better.

People think a direct flight means they are protected in case of delays because they are on the same plane, or that the second flight can't take off until the first one lands. Consumers may favor them even if it's not the case.

Southwest has a lot of the same aircraft flights with the same flight number, but I have had readers surprise me by booking a single flight number from Washington DC to Tokyo on a Boeing737 and connecting to a 787. Both aircraft can be in the air at the same time when there is a change of aircraft.

When I searched for "direct versus non-stop flights", the first result was that you don't get off the plane. The first search result is clearly incorrect. Direct flights are difficult to understand.

Now They Can Harm Customers

Direct flights are not as good as connecting flights on the same route. Since the seat map is one for both flights, airlines often require that the same seat be available on both flights in order to assign it. It is possible that the upgrade may not process correctly.

Even when passengers understand they aren't flying non-stop, it may be hard for them to understand the actual route and timing of their trip.

Direct flights don't have an upside anymore to weigh against the confusion they cause. The practice is not good for consumers.

The dumb, stupid electronics ban that focuses on the wrong airports and does nothing to improve aviation safety is hurting passenger bookings on the flights.

In general.

American Airlines is more strict than their competitors. Platinum Pro, Executive Platinum and ConciergeKey members are the only ones who can change for free. Keeping the same number of stops is important.

In airlines.

The world's longest flight was Newark - Singapore and the second longest was Los Angeles - Singapore. They operated these services with flying gas cans for over a decade. It is difficult to make...

In airlines.