About FlightLandings

What it measures

Each rating is one person’s score for one landing, from 0.5 to 5 stars, where 5 is the smoothest. The Touchdown Quality Index for a rating is the star score divided by 5 and multiplied by 100. A carrier, airport, route or aircraft gets a score once it has 5 ratings, and a score from fewer than 30 ratings is marked provisional.

The ratings record what people felt in the cabin. They do not measure touchdown speed or g-load, and they do not show why one landing was firmer than another. The methodology sets out the calculation in full.

How ratings are collected

Anyone can rate a landing on the rating form, signed in with Google or as a guest. A guest rating is filed under a random code kept in a cookie on that browser. Nobody is paid or rewarded for rating, and airlines and airports are not asked to rate or to encourage rating.

What is not checked

Nothing on this site confirms that a person was on the flight they rated. “Signed in” means the person used a Google account when rating; it does not confirm the flight. “Flight matched” means the flight number and date were found in a schedule source on the route given; it shows the flight existed, not who was on it. Ratings should be read as reports, not as checked records.

Imported ratings

Ratings can also be added from a flight log on the import page. The file is read in the browser and is not uploaded. Only flights from the last 12 months can be imported, the scores are given from memory, and each imported rating is marked as an import. Imported ratings count towards scores in the same way as ratings made on the form.

Limits

One network address can publish 12 ratings in 10 minutes on the form, or 50 through an import. One account or guest code can publish 40 ratings in 24 hours, and one rating per carrier, route and date. These limits slow repeated or automated submissions; clearing cookies gets round the per-browser ones, so they are not proof against misuse.

Who runs it

FlightLandings is an independent site. It is not owned by, paid by or connected to any airline, airport or flight data company.

Contact

Questions, corrections and reports of misuse: [email protected].