Jetstream pushes the Boeing 787 to 800 MPH

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By Marc Cook
| February 19, 2019

The best way to shorten an international flight is not to knock yourself out. In the case of a Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles to London, the trick is to catch a very big tailwind. Around 10:30 pm On Monday night, while the Virgin 787 was sailing at 35,000 feet altitude, it had a ground speed of 801 MPH, according to the radar traces published on FlightAware.

With the screaming jetstream on the northeast, west flight times in the east have dramatically decreased. An American Airlines 737-800 traveled Tuesday morning nearly 200 km / h between Chicago and La Guardia in New York.

This event coincides with the theft of a balloon over New York three hours earlier, indicating a wind speed of 200 knots (231 MPH) at 250 mb, or 30,000 at 35,000 feet. And that does not give up. The National Weather Service predicts that wind speeds in the northeast over 300 FL will be 150 knots or more for the next 18 hours.