Editorial Standards
Contrail covers airlines and air travel for everyday travelers, not just aviation enthusiasts. Our job is to tell you what's actually happening when you fly: whether a flight is worth booking, why your trip went wrong and what you're owed when it does. These are the standards we hold ourselves to.
Independence
Contrail is independent. No airline, airport, travel brand or advertiser decides what we cover or what we say about it, and nobody outside our team sees a story before it's published. We criticize airlines when they fall short and say so when they get it right, and that criticism is always about products, policies and company decisions, never about people, countries or their citizens.
If we ever publish sponsored content, it will be clearly labeled as sponsored, kept separate from our reporting and never presented as news or a review. If we use affiliate links, which earn us a small commission when you book or buy through them, we'll say so on the page where they appear. Neither one affects what we write.
How We Report
We rely on first-hand experience, primary sources and our own data wherever we can. That means airline and airport statements, government notices and filings, official flight data and the people who work in the industry, from pilots and flight attendants to airline executives.
When a claim comes from a single source we haven't been able to confirm independently, we say so, using words like "reportedly" and naming who's making the claim. We don't present rumors, unverified social media posts or viral videos as fact. When footage or a post is part of a story but its details aren't confirmed, we say that in the article.
Sometimes people in the industry can only speak to us if we don't name them or their employer, usually because they could lose their job. We only grant that when the information is important and can't be had any other way, we know who the person is, and we tell readers why they aren't named.
Our Data
Some of our reporting is built on our own analysis of flight data, including flight-tracking records from FlightAware. When we publish an analysis, we explain where the data comes from, what period it covers and what it can't tell you. Flight-tracking data doesn't capture every flight perfectly, and when that matters to a finding, we say so.
Reviews
Every Contrail flight review is based on a flight one of our writers actually took. We review the flight we flew, on the day we flew it, and we say when that was, because cabins, food and service change over time.
If an airline or anyone else gives us a free or discounted flight, an upgrade or a trip, we disclose it in the review itself. Receiving one doesn't buy coverage or a better score.
Every review is scored in five categories using a consistent method, and scores are compared within the same cabin class so a great economy seat isn't held against a business class bed. You can see every airline we've scored in the Contrail Index and read exactly how scores are calculated in How the Contrail Index Works.
Opinion and Analysis
Most of what we publish is news and analysis. Pieces that argue a clear point of view are labeled as editorials, so you always know when you're reading our opinion rather than our reporting. Our opinions are still held to the same factual standard as everything else.
Use of AI
We use AI tools to help with parts of our work, including research, analyzing flight data, transcribing interviews and drafting and editing articles from our own reporting, notes and experiences. AI never replaces the reporting itself. Every article is reviewed, fact-checked and approved by a human editor before it's published, every review is based on a real flight, and every quote comes from a real person we spoke with or a published source we cite. We don't publish AI-generated images as photographs, and we don't use AI to invent sources, quotes or experiences.
Photos
We credit every photo we publish. Most come from our own trips, and the rest come from airlines' press offices, licensed sources or free photo libraries, always credited to the photographer or organization. When a photo isn't from the event in a story, we label it as a file photo, and charts and graphics we make ourselves are labeled as Contrail graphics.
Corrections
We work hard to get things right, and when we don't, we fix it. If we make a factual error, we correct the article as soon as we're aware of it and add a note at the bottom explaining what changed and when. Small fixes like typos may be corrected without a note. When news develops after we publish, we update the story and mark the update with the date and time at the top.
If you spot something we got wrong, email zach@thecontrail.org and we'll look into it.
Contributors
Contrail publishes work from a small team of contributors around the world, including students and people who work in the industry. Contributors follow these same standards, every piece is edited before publication, and each byline links to a page about the writer. Contributors disclose any personal connection to an airline or company they write about.
Contact
Contrail is run by Editor-in-Chief Zach Benitez. For questions, tips, corrections or anything else, email zach@thecontrail.org.