AppiumDriver.getSession() slowing tests down

Java Client- 5.0.4
Appium Version- 1.7.1
Platform- iOS

We are frequently seeing instances of AppiumDriver.getSession() call in Appium logs, and this call takes minimum 1 sec and goes upto 20 seconds. Why is this being called and is there a way to prevent it?

2017-10-30 17:09:28:505 - [HTTP] --> GET /wd/hub/session/7ba7a387-546e-4bf9-a4b8-0ae1d1a7fad1 {}
2017-10-30 17:09:28:506 - [debug] [MJSONWP] Calling AppiumDriver.getSession() with args: [“7ba7a387-546e-4bf9-a4b8-0ae1d1a7fad1”]
2017-10-30 17:09:28:507 - [debug] [XCUITest] Executing command ‘getSession’
2017-10-30 17:09:28:518 - [debug] [JSONWP Proxy] Proxying [GET /] to [GET http://localhost:10867/session/D6B303B9-8CC7-496E-B90D-F273D23EF831] with no body
2017-10-30 17:09:48:156 - [debug] [JSONWP Proxy] Got response with status 200: “{\n “value” : {\n “sessionId” : “D6B303B9-8CC7-496E-B90D-F273D23EF831”,\n “capabilities” : {\n “device” : “iphone”,\n “browserName” : “Curbside”,\n “sdkVersion” : “10.3.1”,\n “CFBundleIdentifier” : “com.curbside.curbside”\n }\n },\n “sessionId” : “D6B303B9-8CC7-496E-B90D-F273D23EF831”,\n “status” : 0\n}”
2017-10-30 17:09:48:156 - [XCUITest] Merging WDA caps over Appium caps for session detail response
2017-10-30 17:09:48:157 - [debug] [MJSONWP] Responding to client with driver.getSession() result: {“udid”:"",“preventWDAAttachments”:true,“showXcodeLog”:false,“noReset”:true,“clearSystemFiles”:true,“newCommandTimeout”:120000,“platformVersion”:“10.3”,“bundleId”:“com.curbside.curbside”,“platformName”:“iOS”,“deviceName”:“iPhone 6s”,“fullReset”:false,“wdaLocalPort”:10867,“device”:“iphone”,“browserName”:“Curbside”,“sdkVersion”:“10.3.1”,“CFBundleIdentifier”:“com.curbside.curbside”}
2017-10-30 17:09:48:158 - [HTTP] <-- GET /wd/hub/session/7ba7a387-546e-4bf9-a4b8-0ae1d1a7fad1 200 19651 ms - 454