If you’ve ever watched your flight map while traveling between the U.S. and Asia, you may have noticed something odd.
The plane almost never seems to fly where you’d expect it to.
Have you ever seen the flight patterns of flights from Japan to the United States? They never go directly across the Pacific Ocean to get to, say, San Francisco. They take a curved pattern that brings them, if not over Canada, then near it.
PC: JAL
The same goes for flights between, for example, Los Angeles and Beijing – they take an upward curved route that hugs Canada, Alaska, Russia, etc., before reaching their destination in China.
So what’s up with that? Why don’t planes fly over the Pacific Ocean?
Well, of course, SOME planes fly over the Pacific. Lots of them, really. I mean, there’s no way you can get to Hawaii from anywhere else without flying over the ocean. Flights between the U.S. & Australia or New Zealand go directly over the Pacific waters, too. And, of course, if the jet stream is working with or against you, you may fly over the ocean regardless.
In a nutshell, it all has to do with saving time, saving fuel, distance, safety, and a few other factors. Watch this:
So while those curved routes may look strange on a flat map, they’re often actually the fastest, safest, and most fuel-efficient option for airlines.
It’s also a good reminder that the Earth is round — something flight maps make very obvious very quickly. 😏
And these days, with airlines avoiding certain airspace over Russia, Ukraine, and other conflict zones, some routes have become even more unusual-looking than before.
But basically, pilots aren’t taking the scenic route just to mess with your in-flight map obsession. 😆
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