Watching airliner tracks on FlightAware, I often see strange routings. For example, two identical aircraft types leaving from MIA to IAH. One follows the coastline and passes nea Mobile and New Orleans. Another flies direct and over the Gulf of Mexico. Storms don't seem to be the cause.
I understand that on a sphere the shortest distance between two points is not a line but a curve, but this doesn't seem to explain all the strange tracks I see. Today I saw a flight going from SFO to ABQ. It flew in the direction of Chicago for a very, very long time before turning south. It didn't take a southwesterly track. At some point around Gallup VOR it turned east towards ABQ. Storms did not seem to be a factor. Could it be winds aloft that don't show on FlightAware or something else? I know there are MOAs to avoid.
When I used to fly Southwest Airlines from ABQ to PHX, sometimes the flights would track a pretty straight course to PHX. Sometimes they few southwesterly towards Winslow AZ and then made a southerly turn to head into the PHX area.
Can anyone with expertise explain this?
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
Same type aircraft, but are they for the same airline and are they close to the same time of day?
Some aircraft are not overwater equipped with rafts thus they'd be restricted from flying across the Gulf. Another reason might be any equipment that may require the over land route besides rafts. Different time of day winds might be a reason as well as possible forecast storms in the Gulf that may or may not materialize.
I fly IAH-RSW and back quite often and try to avoid any type of regional jet as none that I know have have rafts thus they cannot fly across the Gulf. Give me a UA Airbus or Boeing jet to get back and forth quicker and much more direct.
We'll get additional information from the pilots.
Some aircraft are not overwater equipped with rafts thus they'd be restricted from flying across the Gulf. Another reason might be any equipment that may require the over land route besides rafts. Different time of day winds might be a reason as well as possible forecast storms in the Gulf that may or may not materialize.
I fly IAH-RSW and back quite often and try to avoid any type of regional jet as none that I know have have rafts thus they cannot fly across the Gulf. Give me a UA Airbus or Boeing jet to get back and forth quicker and much more direct.
We'll get additional information from the pilots.
-
- GalaxyFlyer
- Posts: 12400
- Joined:
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
Lots of military airspace around NM, NV and AZ, not all of it esp above F180 shows up on charts. Winds, aircraft restrictions as mentioned play a roll. SFO to ABQ would have to plan around military airspace. A friend flies a bizjet NY area to EU, used to be frequently, Boss wanted 8 hours sleep on a 6 hour flight, solution was wander around Labrador.
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
Flight dispatcher here. The difference in routings can be anything from lack of survival equipment (some regulatory agencies require rafts to fly a certain distance from land), aircraft MEL status (inoperative HF radio, navigation equipment, etc) or even radar outages meaning flights cannot be filed on certain airways or in certain areas. This weekend I recall seeing a radar outage in Houston FIR that barred flights from flying on certain airways through the Gulf of Mexico.
-
- shamrock137
- Posts: 465
- Joined:
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
GalaxyFlyer wrote:A friend flies a bizjet NY area to EU, used to be frequently, Boss wanted 8 hours sleep on a 6 hour flight, solution was wander around Labrador.
Expensive way to get some sleep!!
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
People who fly in bizjets don’t really care about the cost
It’s amazing hearing some of the stories former biz jet pilots tell about the people they fly…
One pilot told me he was just one pilot in a pilot group that crewed a fleet of planes assigned to each member of the family - 5 planes 1 for the father, 1 for the mother, 3 planes one for each of the 3 kids- just like some people have a car for each member of the family.
Then when one of the kids turned 21 she wanted a party in NYC so the 5 planes went out to NYC each carrying each family member and friends to NYC. Coming back the daughter forgot something in NYC so her plane went back to NYC to retrieve the forgotten item.
Or the family had a dog that needed surgery so they flew the dog (with no one else in the plane) to Denver to get surgery. With a different dog sitter at both ends of the flight taking care of transportation for the dog.
It’s amazing hearing some of the stories former biz jet pilots tell about the people they fly…
One pilot told me he was just one pilot in a pilot group that crewed a fleet of planes assigned to each member of the family - 5 planes 1 for the father, 1 for the mother, 3 planes one for each of the 3 kids- just like some people have a car for each member of the family.
Then when one of the kids turned 21 she wanted a party in NYC so the 5 planes went out to NYC each carrying each family member and friends to NYC. Coming back the daughter forgot something in NYC so her plane went back to NYC to retrieve the forgotten item.
Or the family had a dog that needed surgery so they flew the dog (with no one else in the plane) to Denver to get surgery. With a different dog sitter at both ends of the flight taking care of transportation for the dog.
-
- GalaxyFlyer
- Posts: 12400
- Joined:
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
It’s not that they “don’t care”; it’s that flying that plane around for them is like you or I using the family car. As a budget item, the plane for them is likely cheaper, percentage wise, than our cars. I’ve been involved in deals, rich people dicker over the floor mats on a $60 million plane, just like a car deal.
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
Could congestion also play a factor? Perhaps they want to spread some traffic around.
Re: Reason [s] for strange routings?
To answer your question about ABQ to PHX - since its a pretty short flight, you’re going to fly some odd directions to intercept the STAR route into Phoenix. Theres a whole bunch of military airspace east of Phoenix, and the main arrival from the east is the EAGUL6 - which comes from the northeast in a southwesterly direction down to Phoenix. This route is often really busy, so you will often be sent towards Winslow to join the arrival stream.