Strange TATL routing
Feb 26, 2017, 7:04 am
#1
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Strange TATL routing
Flew UA 961 FRA-EWR on 2/23. Captain announced that we would be departing late, because FRA ATC was routing us through French airspace. During the flight, I noticed we were flying in a "straight" line to EWR, not even entering US airspace until around Boston. Every Northern European flight to EWR I've ever been on has headed north, over (or close to) Greenland, then across and down through Canada. I saw the First Officer at the end of the flight, and he said it was an unusual routing, but didn't indicate any specific reason (like high winds, etc.). Is it unusual, or I just haven't noticed before?
Feb 26, 2017, 7:17 am
#2
formerly FrequentFlyKid
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There are many reasons that this would be the routing. Most likely would be the enroute winds aloft and weather. Based on that screenshot, it looks like there is a storm system in the North Atlantic that was trying to be avoided. This is not all that uncommon. The delay because routed through French airspace is just a byproduct of the more southerly routing.
Feb 26, 2017, 7:35 am
#3
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Horrible weather north of NY. That routing which would have your aircraft flying BGR-EWR on the US segment would likely be slow, turbulent and subject to diversion. While your route was no ideal, it is far better than an unpleasant and longer flight which winds up at PIT or BWI.
Feb 26, 2017, 7:48 am
#4
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Horrible weather north of NY. That routing which would have your aircraft flying BGR-EWR on the US segment would likely be slow, turbulent and subject to diversion. While your route was no ideal, it is far better than an unpleasant and longer flight which winds up at PIT or BWI.
Feb 26, 2017, 9:57 am
#7
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You don't fly close to Greenland on FRA-EWR. Maybe you were seeing Newfoundland off to the north or something, but typically you wouldn't be within 500 miles of Greenland. Check out FRA-EWR on Great Circle Mapper.
Feb 26, 2017, 12:18 pm
#8
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Flightaware loses track of this flight over the Atlantic, but shows a very similar route for every day between the 20-23rd of Feb - including routing over France rather than the UK.
eg, for the 20th - https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...005Z/EDDF/KEWR
eg, for the 20th - https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...005Z/EDDF/KEWR
Feb 26, 2017, 12:24 pm
#9
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Feb 26, 2017, 2:57 pm
#10
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Of course. However, you're usually not going to be 500 miles north of the normal path when you're at that latitude. The south routing like on the 20th-23rd is probably 50-75 miles off the normal route. The southernmost tip of Greenland would be at least 550 miles north of the route. With winds up there, I can't think of a scenario on a normal routing that would divert that far north. It would add quite a bit of time and distance to the flight - an hour and a half at least.