Becoming Europe's most punctual airline

Sure, we might be a bit biased. But the fact that we manage to blast a metal tube full of people and their belongings across oceans, over mountains and through clouds is pretty cool in itself. But to do it hundreds of times every day, year-round is even cooler. Cooler still is the fact that most flights touch ground right when they’re supposed to. At SAS though, we’re perfectionists. And that “most” is just as annoying for us as it is for you when you’re on the wrong end of it. That’s why we’re working hard to turn “most” to “all”. Here’s how:

The science of boarding

Perhaps you’ve been queuing at the gate, thinking “surely there’s a more efficient way to do this”. And there is. In fact, there’s an optimal way to do it, developed by astrophysicist Jason Steffen in 2005. This smooth-as-silk, dreamlike dance of passengers boarding just at the right at time and in the right order saves a lot of time and nuisance for everyone involved. In theory. Meanwhile, in the real world where people behave like people and not like numbers in a simulation, we’re stuck with the next best thing. Namely, boarding groups, and as of late, extra early “Go to Gate”-prompts.

Fighting the frost

Taking to the skies in sunny mid-July where the only ice to be found comes in cubes for your onboard cocktail is one thing. Getting ready for a mid-blizzard takeoff in Scandinavia is a different beast, though. De-icing is not a new practice, but during the last couple of winters we’ve developed ways to thaw our planes faster and better than before, saving valuable minutes in nippy conditions.

De-iceman cometh. Nothing quite like an ethylene glycol shower to freshen up for flying. Photo: Juris Homickis / SAS

Getting off to a flying start

You know those days that start with oversleeping, spilling coffee on your shirt and then just keep spiraling until you go back to bed to try again the next day? Well, we have those too. Kind of. Our line of work is extremely sensitive to knock-on effects, meaning that delays that occur early tend to affect flights for the rest of the day. To combat this, we’ve established an extra rigorous morning routine for all flights departing before 9 AM. And it works – when our early birds are on time, 90% of the following flights throughout the day will be, too.

These are just some of the ways we’re working to reach our goal of becoming Europe’s most punctual airline. And it seems to be working. Departure and arrival times are steadily improving, and summer 2024 saw us claim a top three-spot in the European punctuality tables. There’s always going to be the odd volcanic eruption or unforeseen traffic jam to stop us from reaching 100%, but we believe these initiatives are going to bring us pretty darn close.

See you on board, on time!