The speed of the planes of some airlines is slower than others. Why ?

On Friday, an excited passenger noticed that a Spirit Airlines plane that had taken off before its United Airlines plane from Houston airport was too late, according to the flight tracker.

The passenger, guessing this Spirit, probably flew slower to save money, like a thrifty driver on the highway. Fuel consumption generally decreases when traveling at 50 mph.

This interesting observation revealed an open secret in the world of airlines and flights: They don’t all fly at the same speed. Two identical routes with identical weather conditions can have two different speeds.

Those speeds all depend on the airline and its goals, Bernstein Airlines analyst Daniel Ruska told Yahoo Finance. He said some airlines, such as Ryanair and Wise, generally fly at the optimum speed which reduces fuel consumption on the road.

He added that for non-low-cost airlines, they sometimes fly their planes faster to achieve higher productivity (since their planes have been on the ground for a long time). it has busy schedules of faster flights to increase the number of daily flights, and if the schedule is not crowded, they reduce the cost of fuel and flight according to the economic limits.

In other words, speed is determined by the airline’s goals, whether it’s being on time, increasing the number of flights, or saving money on fuel. – which all vary depending on the airline, the day and the situation.

“The differences are not big,” said Ruska. Planes typically fly at speeds between 466 mph and 547 mph, a difference of around 81 mph more.

many variables

Aircraft physics further complicates the speed equation, according to aviation analyst Robert Mann, as he said that planes seeking to compensate for speed typically fly at a lower altitude, but with a carrying capacity of passenger and lower freight.

Altitude is tricky because it is often a function of weight, and Mann explained that long flights often have to have a “gradual climb,” the point at which an aircraft climbs slowly as it burns fuel, as the fuel itself represents a significant amount of weight.

He added that the planes cannot reach the final flight height at the initial starting mass, noting that in the future, electric planes will rewrite the long-range operations manual, since the battery does not burn out. or does not lose weight over time, which creates a challenge. for electric propulsion.