- On Wednesday, at least two transatlantic flights reached top ground speeds above 800mph.
- They were still technically subsonic because they were propelled by a faster-than-usual jet stream.
- Recent cold weather has strengthened the jet stream, and the climate crisis is set to exacerbate this.
Some transatlantic flights have traveled faster than the speed of sound relative to the ground this week.
It isn’t the return of Concorde, but regular wide-body jets flying through an accelerated jet stream.
According to data from Flightradar24, Qatar Airways Flight 704 reached a top ground speed of 833 miles per hour as it crossed the Atlantic on Wednesday.
The Boeing 777 flying from New York to Doha landed around 50 minutes ahead of schedule.
Also briefly traveling above the speed of sound was British Airways Flight 274, which flew from Las Vegas to London, and hit a top ground speed of 814 miles per hour, per Flightradar24 data.
The Airbus A350 landed 45 minutes ahead of schedule.
While both flights’ top speeds were above Mach 1.2, there would not have been a sonic boom.
The planes were traveling at their usual cruising speeds — typically around 600 miles per hour — but were propelled by the North Atlantic jet stream flowing much faster than usual.
So, while the planes traveled above the speed of sound relative to the ground, they were still technically subsonic relative to the air around them.
The jet stream has been more powerful than usual because it has been fueled by the recent cold spell in the US.
This is also set to bring extremely high winds to the UK and Ireland, as part of Storm Éowyn. Red warnings — meaning there is a danger to life — are in place for the whole of Ireland and parts of Scotland for Friday, with wind gusts expected to be as high as 100 miles per hour.
While Wednesday’s flights were rare in going over 800 miles per hour, it isn’t clear that any records were broken.
Guinness World Records says the fastest subsonic transatlantic commercial flight took place in 2020. A British Airways Boeing 747 flew from New York to London in 4 hours and 56 minutes. Due to the five-hour time difference between the US and the UK, the flight landed, in relative terms, four minutes before it took off.
Relative to the ground below, it flew through the jet stream at 825 miles per hour.
However, its top speeds were sustained for longer than Wednesday’s flights, given that the flight was over two hours quicker than usual.
It might not be long before records are broken again, though.
Transatlantic flights almost always travel through the North Atlantic jet stream, and its tailwinds are the reason it’s faster to fly from the US to Europe rather than vice-versa.
The climate crisis means that the jet streams are becoming stronger and, therefore, faster.
It is causing an increasing difference in energy between two layers of the atmosphere, which imparts more energy into the jet streams.
This also enlarges Rossby waves — meanders in the jet stream — which creates more friction in the air and increases the risk of turbulence on the edges of the jet stream.
If you want to see a true supersonic commercial flight, you’ll have to wait a few more years.
Boom Supersonic, a US startup, is developing an airliner planned to travel at Mach 1.7, with plans to enter service before the end of the decade.
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