Nonstop Flights From Boston To Florida

Why is the flight to California from Boston longer than the one back?

Because the high altitude winds, called "Westerlies" are prevailing in from East to West (and slightly South to North).  This means a flight from the West Coast to the East Coast, is catching a tailwind, and flights from East to West are hitting a headwind.Therefore, it takes more time and more jet fuel to travel East to West in North America.In other parts of the world, the prevailing wind patterns are different, and the direction of fastest, easiest air travel is different.

Can airlines continue service between New York or Boston and Florida by flying over the top of hurricane Florence?

They won’t, it’s just too dangerous to risk passenger lives. Over the top could mean thousands of feet above standard flight routes, which run around 35,000 feet. For a small category 1 hurricane they could be able to fly over the hurricane but not the larger category storms. In an emergency they may fly around a hurricane, but not over it.There’s just too great a risk. And should they run into any problems during flight, they have a few hundred lives they need to protect - they would never take a chance unless it was an emergency.But flying over a hurricane is possible - NOAA has planes that do fly into they eye and around hurricanes to get important data for storm analysis and predictions. These planes are not jets, they are turboprop planes - jets wouldn’t be safe - and the planes, the Lockheed WP-3 is designed to withstand a lot of turbulence. A commercial jet just couldn’t do what the WP-3 is capable of.In 1989 one of the NOAA storm hunter planes got into serious trouble and was trapped in the eye of Hurricane Hugo, a cat 5 hurricane - and a reenactment was made of how they actually were helped out of the storm. They led into the hurricane at a lower altitude and ran into major problems, dropping hundreds of feet, equipment shaking loose, losing valuable equipment that would provide readings, and one engine catching fire. An Air Force plane followed into the storm at a higher altitude and provided aid - inspecting the plane for external damage, and then looking for a softer place in the wall to penetrate to exit the eye of the Cat 5 storm. They were able to safely exit follow the Air Force plane, but it was a harrowing experience. The drama was reenacted in an episode of Smithsonian Channel’s Air Disasters , American version of Canada’s Air Emergency, "Air Emergency" Into the Eye of the Storm (TV Episode 2014)The bottom line is this - winds in a bad rainstorm may reach 35- 50mph. that’s enough to send objects flying, knock over furniture and fell trees. In a Cat 1 hurricane, the winds are sustained at 74–95mph. This storm, as measured just a few hours ago, as a Cat 4 storm, is believed to now be a Cat 5 storm, which means winds of over 150 mph, and that’s the equivalent of an EF 3 tornado or more. It is not safe to fly over.

What is the flight time like from the US to Australia?

It is a long flight from LA to Sydney (around 14 hours), and an even longer flight to Melbourne (almost 16 hours). Those flights tend to leave LA in the evening, and put you into Australia the next morning.You can break it up by flying to Auckland New Zealand, from San Francisco this takes about 11 hours…. it is about 3 hours flight from Auckland to Brisbane.Some things to ponder for the trip…If you fly days in the middle of the week you are more likely to have an empty seat next to you, which might help you sleep a bit better.Air New Zealand offers “cuddle couches”… where you and your significant other purchase 3 economy seats, but they have foot-rests that swing up to make a sort-of-bed-like space you can like down on and sleep better. I have had the luxury of using one of these, and they are very very nice!Safe Travels!

When flying to Japan from the United States, why do most flights never go directly over the Pacific Ocean? Most tend to go around it instead of over it. Wouldn’t it be a faster flight if pilots went directly over the length of the ocean?

Here is the straight line between San Francisco and Tokyo:This was made using Google Earth, a 3D globe model of Earth. If you are unsure what you’re looking at (after all, it doesn’t look quite like an ordinary map of the world), America is to the right, and Russia and Japan are to the left. Aleutian islands of Alaska are right in the middle (where Russia and Alaska almost touch).On a traditional, flat map of the earth, this line looks very much curved, going far north and then descending down south.Flat maps of Earth are great for use on flat surfaces (books, computer screens, walls, etc), but because Earth is not flat, these maps simply cannot properly represent shapes and distances, so any straight line that goes further north (and close ro the pole) will get distorted and curved when shown on a flat map.The straight line from Boston to Tokyo goes almost across the North Pole, while on your flat map, it would end up as a very long curve.A flight between Boston, USA, and Astana, Kazakhstan, looks even more extreme. A straight line between these two goes directly across the North Pole:Same route on a regular map:Blue is a straight line (on the globe); red is actually far longer, but on the traditional flat map, you could never believe it.

For a flight going from the United States to China or Japan, why would an airline choose the long route over Europe and the Middle East instead of going over the Pacific Ocean?

John Cheshire's answer to this was really good.  Also, there are other considerations such as fuel, food, duration of a single flight, etc.  The ocean is a death trap for downed planes, so better the less time you fly over it.  But I would speculate that the number 1 reason for an airline NOT to do a direct route as you suggest: it's not profitable enough.As a civilian contractor working in Afghanistan, I used to fly direct routes between Dubai (U.A.E.) and either Washington-Dulles (United) or Atlanta International (Delta).  Those routes were flown by Boeing 777-300s with seating at around 450 passengers.  Economy tickets were usually around 1900 USD months in advance and I never saw an empty seat on those flights, except occasionally in first class.  Between rising ticket costs as the plane fills up, luggage fees, and the cost of higher class seats, let's assume that the average price per passenger on those flights was only 2200 USD.  That's nearly a million dollars per flight, and they were flying it both ways, seven days a week, for almost $14 million a week on a single route.How could they possibly fill all those flights?  Mostly because of U.S. contractors working in the Middle East, because the majority of us flew through Dubai.  The demand for a full-time direct route was there, so the airlines supplied one.  Airlines (just like any other company) will give people what they want to the extent that profit is maximized.  If there are no direct routes from the U.S. to Asia, then I suggest that it's because it's not profitable.Also, there are direct routes.  I'm on Skyscanner right now looking at a Non-Stop flight from New York to Hong Kong on American Airlines, round-trip for 3982 USD, last minute, with a stop in Johannesburg on the way back.Los Angeles to Tokyo, same story.  Non-stop outbound, 1 stop in Singapore on the return.  Last minute round-trip for 1248 USD.  Maybe those Americans whom you met are just finding cheaper flights with more connections.

Why do planes fly east towards Australia?

Airlines DO fly over the pacific to Australia from US and Canada. Flight time from Los Angeles to Sydney is 14 hours and 40min. That is just as long as the East route.But you are assuming everyone in the US and Canada are flying from one airport. USA is a REALLY BIG COUNTRY. Flight from NY to LA is 6 hours. Same for Toronto to Vancouver in Canada.So if you are in NYC and want to go to Australia [lets say Perth]. It is more efficient to take two flights. NYC to Dubai [12hrs]- Dubai to Perth [11hrs] {route i’ve taken numerous times}. Total combined flight time of 23hrs. Add to that the time in transit in Dubai, typically 6hrs but it can be as short as 1.5hrs. So total travel time of 25- 29hrs.Verses if you take the west route from NYC. NYC to LA [6hrs]. LA to Sydney [15hrs]. Then Sydney to Perth [6hrs]. Total flight time: 27 hrs. Add to that the transit time. In LA the transit time is consistently 6 to 8hrs. In Sydney another 6 or 8hrs. So total travel time of : 39hrs. Thats almost two days of traveling.Yes my times can be adjusted with careful planning but you will only shorten the duration of travel by approx 5hrs.I’ve taken the westerly route I mentioned above. Its horrendously inefficient. Very expensive because there is only one airline that i’m aware of that flies directly from LA to Australia [ Qantas]. And the route is very complex which increases the possibility of you missing a connection. I did break up that route with stops in Melbourne and New Zealand but it does nothing for the stress of flying.I like the East route because I love the airport in Dubai. Very convenient and comfortable with tons of amenities. LAX ins LA is just horrible. Most US airports are.