Frequent Flier Minutes

Every airline I know of with a frequent flier mile program bases their rewards on... miles. I've got a better idea.

Points should instead accrue for every minute that a passenger spends on a plane, from the time the door closes to the time it opens. The value of the points will have to be adjusted so that the minutes you get from a ~2 hour flight are worth about the same as the miles you get from a flight now. The advantage is that airlines will have an incentive to speed up their flights and ground handling, and avoid long delays on the ramp.

Now I know what you're going to say. "If airlines have to pay by the minute they will be in a rush, cut corners, and planes will be crashing into elementary schools right and left." Fret not, I thought of a solution for that. When the passenger buys the ticket they will be guaranteed a minimum number of points for that trip. The point minimum should be the time required to complete the flight + taxi time + 10% for a safety margin. That way the airline has enough time to complete the flight as planned, and they don't start losing money unless there are significant delays. It does however give them lots of incentive not to keep a plane sitting on a ramp for 3 hours waiting for a gate.