system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:How did my plane yesterday depart late but it was able to reach the destination before it's original scheduled arrival time?

My plane the other other day left it's origin about an hour after it was originally meant to. How then did it arrive to my destination before it's original scheduled arrival? Did the pilot just put his foot down?
gpt
We generally do not fly "as fast as we can go". We fly at a speed that is calculated by our airline to be a nice balance of speed and fuel economy. However, if a flight is behind schedule and could potentially impact the departure times of flights further down the line, then we can be authorized to kick it up a notch, so to speak, and try to make up some time in the air. We can also pester air traffic control for a few extra "shortcuts" along the way if we really feel that we need to catch up a bit with our schedule.