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JetBlue Flight 524 arrived 39 minutes early atJ John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) after a powerful jet stream surged its speed to 755 mph on the way from California to New York, as Flightradar24 announced. Normally, an aircraft like this would fly around 520 mph on a coast-to-coast journey like Flight 524’s.
This incredible phenomenon from the jet stream puts no extra stress or strain on the jet either, and is a completely safe ‘speed boost.’ The Airbus A321neo departed Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 12:42 PM PST on the 17th of February and arrived in the evening at 8:14 PM EST, according to FlightAware.
JetBlue’s Wild Ride
The United States aviation industry flies a large number of transcontinental routes from the East Coast to the West Coast, and vice versa, every day. This routine includes the jet stream as a major factor in flight planning for every carrier that operates these missions. Acting as a kind of conveyor belt in the sky, the wind of the jet stream significantly influences travel time, fuel, and the experience for customers.
Eastbound flights typically experience tailwind as JetBlue Flight 524 did, however most of them do not gain the amount of extra speed this particularly lucky jetliner experienced. The amount of time saved for most departures is usually around 30 minutes when the wind is strong, but there have been other cases where it was even more powerful in the past. As you might expect, westbound flights have to fight against headwinds, which adds a similar amount of time to return Journeys.
It is unclear if JetBlue Flight 524 had to face a penalty for arriving early at JFK, which can sometimes happen due to excessive gate congestion at the nation’s busiest hubs. Flight data provided online seems to indicate that they did not have to spend an inordinate amount of time circling in the pattern to wait for a landing slot, at the very least.
ABC News talked to commercial pilot John Nance about the jet stream’s increasing impact on flying, which he described as:
“A network of very high-altitude rivers of air, flowing at very high rates of speed.”
Free Speed On Flight 524
The only risk of riding a high-speed jet stream air mass is an increased risk of Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). This often occurs at the edges of the jet stream where wind speeds change rapidly. Pilots may need to slow down or change altitude if the ride becomes too bumpy for passenger comfort. The aircraft’s airspeed (speed through the air) remains constant, so there is no increased aerodynamic load or mechanical wear on the wings, airframe, or engines.
An airliner cruising in the same direction as a powerful jet stream flow is like going down a moving walkway at the airport. From the aircraft’s perspective, it is still flying at its normal cruising speed relative to the air around it. Instead of a penalty, the jet stream provides a significant fuel savings benefit. The engines do not have to work any harder to achieve the higher ground speed. They simply ride the moving air current and enjoy a quicker trip with the same amount of thrust and fuel burn.
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Global Warming & The Jet Stream
Research indicates that the jet stream is becoming more erratic and unstable. The air stream typically shifts further south and becomes more powerful during the winter months, leading to more dramatic flight time fluctuations compared to summer. Also been a significant rise in clear air turbulence as a result of the temperature changing at the cruising level of the atmosphere.
Climate change is leading to more frequent record-breaking fast eastbound flights, but also more significant delays and increased turbulence for westbound travelers. On top of this, the changing jet stream patterns are leading to more prolonged severe weather patterns, according to the Arctic Council. As the high-speed air masses slow down and trap weather systems from moving or dissipating, they can keep planes grounded for days instead of hours.
Airlines have begun adjusting long-term schedules to account for the new normal of a shifting atmosphere. Airports in increasingly hot climates, like Phoenix or Las Vegas, have seen steadily more intense peak summer heat. They are increasingly scheduling heavy long-haul departures for cooler morning or late-evening hours to avoid weight restrictions or cancellations.
