United Testing New Program to Delay Flights for Connecting Passengers

United Airlines is testing a new program that would allow gate agents to delay a departure if passengers are rushing to board after a connecting flight.

According to the Chicago Daily Herald, United will roll out the Dynamic D-0 program at Denver International Airport, which will help inform gate agents of travelers arriving on a connecting flight who could potentially be minutes late for boarding.

While the plane would have to be held at the gate for a few extra minutes, United believes it can make up the lost time on specific routes that typically arrive earlier than scheduled. The Dynamic D-0 program is named after the D-0 metric that measures flights that depart at precisely the previously scheduled time.

United revealed that around 25 percent of its flights arrive early, which would allow for the airline to make up a slight departure delay in transit. The new program would use software to determine which flights typically arrive early and coordinate the data with the carrier’s connecting passenger roster to decide which flights can be held for connecting passengers.

United President Scott Kirby spoke during an investor conference Tuesday about how the program would have a “minimal airline-passenger-rights-what-you-need-to-know.html” target=”_self” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>impact on performance as the flights are expected to arrive on time, even with the hold.”

The airline hopes to expand the Dynamic D-0 program to other large airports later this year before eventually expanding the service to all of its flights.