Why does it take longer to fly East to West than West to East?
Which factors affect this?
Does Earth's spinning affect the time difference? Maybe the air circulation?
Aviation Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for aircraft pilots, mechanics, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityWhy does it take longer to fly East to West than West to East?
Which factors affect this?
Does Earth's spinning affect the time difference? Maybe the air circulation?
As Robbie's answer implies, the answer is wind - Trade Winds govern what happens on or near the surface and were historically important for sailing ships, and today in aviation we deal with the the Winds Aloft at whatever altitude your plane is flying.
As an example, consider two hypothetical flights at 30,000 feet with the winds shown below:
With these winds a flight from A to B (East-to-West) will be fighting headwinds the whole way. My handy flight planning program tells me that at 500 knots (airspeed) you'd be in the air for about 5 hours 30 minutes.
Traveling in the opposite direction from B to A you'd have a tailwind, and with the same 500 knot airspeed you would make the trip in roughly 4 hours.
The winds aloft vary seasonally, which can affect flight times for summer versus winter trips. According to one of our folks who is regularly up at those altitudes even the daily variations can be noticeable, and may make the difference between being able to make a nonstop trip or having to stop for fuel on the way.
Pilots and flight dispatchers will often review the wind data prior to flight and try to select an altitude that affords a "good ride" (free of turbulence) and favorable winds (either a tailwind or the lowest headwind they can find).
The main reason for the difference in time are trade winds.
Trade winds generally travel East to West, and so aircraft travelling in this direction have a faster ground speed, that is the speed relative to the ground. The true air speed of any aircraft is not affected by the wind.
The jet stream moves from West to East. At the altitude an airliner flies the speed of the tail wind or head wind will have a significant impact on actual ground speed. This was first observed when B-29 bombing raids on Japan during WW2. Before that there was no notion of a 'jet stream'.
Short answer: As you have indicated in the question description, the answer is winds. Better known as Jet Streams.
Long answer: https://alliknowaviation.home.blog/2019/03/29/why-do-planes-travel-faster-west-to-east/
Although the rotation of the earth and weather created by solar energy do affect the air circulation of the planet, and jet streams aloft, the main reason why west to east flights take "longer" is that flying east into new time zones adds an hour to your landing time for each time zone flown through. Opposite flying west.
Some of this is made up for when flying at the latitudes of west to east jet streams when travelling east, so the actual flight time going east under those conditions will be shorter, even though you arrive at a "later" time.
A closer look at your flight time based on your original time zone may give greater insight to your question, and maybe a little less "jet lag".
Both the winds and earth's rotation affect the difficulty of flight eastbound vs. westbound. If eastbound is slower and harder and winds carry you westbound, I take it you're within the tropics, where the tradewinds govern flight direction. Kentucky and Utah, and farther north latitude (and likewise south to Argentina) the winds work in the opposite direction.
The poles and equator differ in (eastward) rotation speed. The equator has farther to go and keeps up with the axis by going faster. So land nearer the axis (Canada, Argentina) takes it slow spinning east, slower than wind and weather. So that's where to take advantage of the winds eastbound. The tradewinds are at the equator, where the ground follows (east) a bigger circle, faster than wind and weather. There, the westbound is more efficient.
I'm not sure about Alabama/Arizona/etc, but I wager the eastbound and westbound are about the same, since they are in-between the north and tropics (and Bolivia the in-between of the southern hemisphere). The latitude makes quite a difference.
Unlike planes being pushed by wind, space shuttles leave the atmosphere. Being propelled only by earth's rotation, all rockets go east no matter the latitude.
Unlike planes being pushed by wind
that's valid only if it is a tailwind
$\endgroup$
– Federico♦
May 28 '15 at 22:06
propelled
a few words later.
$\endgroup$
– Federico♦
May 28 '15 at 22:31
Without even looking at the winds I'd just add something like 20 kts ground speed if going east and subtract 20 kts ground speed if going west. Amazing how often that came close enough to actual flight plan.
It is simple. The Earth rotates from East to West. There is hence an eastward shear effect in the atmosphere. If you fly East, this shear adds to the cruising speed. Reverse case if you fly west. So more time if you fly westwards. But how much more depends on the prevailing wind-shear. This cannot be pre-determined except when you actually fly and meter the wind speed.