Large airlines must report on-time performance for flights to and from the nation's largest airports. Today's definition of arrival time provides airlines the incentive to get the plane to the gate promptly, but no incentive to let the passengers off the aircraft just as promptly. To give airlines an incentive to provide truly on-time service to their passengers, the definition of arrival time in 14 CFR 234.4(e) should be changed to:
(e) Actual departure time shall be measured by the time at which the aircraft departed from the gate or passenger loading area.
(f) Actual arrival time shall be measured by the time at which the the first passenger entered the airport terminal.
(g) Actual elapsed time shall be measured by the difference between actual arrival time and actual departure time.
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