43 years on: flight time has slowed between Sydney and Wellington
43 years on: flight time has slowed between Sydney and Wellington
Something strange is happening in the skies and major air traffic routes. Aircraft are slowing down.
When Concorde made its final flight in 2003 and the era of supersonic passenger flight came to an end, it was seen as a great blow to both air travel and technology.
However, since then air travel has only got slower.
In some cases flights are taking longer now than they did forty years ago.
Air New Zealand's timetables show flights between Wellington and Sydney are now twenty minutes slower than they were in the mid-seventies.
Regular services were able to make the 2229 kilometers in 3 hours and 20 minutes, with a morning flight taking off in Wellington at 7.30am and an afternoon service 4.30pm, touching down on the tarmac at 8.50am and 17.50 Sydney time.
Today the average time in the air is 3 hours and 40 minutes.
In spite of four decades of technological advances, it would appear we are flying backwards.
This phenomenon is not just occurring in the skies above the Tasman.
A non-stop flight between Houston and New York today takes just under four hours but, according to Business Insider, that same flight in 1973 would have taken two hours and thirty seven minutes.
Meanwhile in Europe, the Telegraph has also pointed out slowing services between Edinburgh and London, and Madrid to Barcelona. Both services had gained up to twenty minutes flight time since the 1990s.
Millions of dollars are invested into new plane engines and increasingly aerodynamic designs, but this has not helped.
If climbing aboard a vintage 707 would get you to your holiday in Australia quicker, why did anyone bother?
Concorde 216 which made the fleet's final flight, is now an installation at the British Aerospace Museum. Photo / Ben Birchall, Getty
Business Insider's study explained cost is the major dictator when it comes to flight time.
Airlines are instructing pilots to slow down in a bid to curb costs. While time is money, jet fuel is also a costly consideration.
In the mid-2000s, fuel prices rose by to over US$3 per gallon. During that period average cruising times took a nosedive to meet a stricter economy.
In 2008, Northwest Airlines made the decision to slow the cruising speed by 10mph on its Hawaii to Los Angeles route. The decision saved them NZ$590,000 in fuel a year.
Talking anonymously to the Mail Online, a serving airline captain said newer aircraft were actually being designed to fly slower.
"Newer aircraft such as the A330 were designed to fly slower than 747s for this reason - Mach.82 versus Mach.85 for best economy."
Congested airways and busier flight schedules have also lead to slow down in timetables.
While aircraft designers like Boom Supersonic tease us with promises of second chapter in supersonic airlines, the truth is passengers will just have to be increasingly patient.
