kv99

I flew US 735 MAN-PHL today and the flight took a pretty unusual northerly routing, hitting the southern coast of Iceland, then across Greenland, Baffin Island, and straight south through Quebec. we left pretty much on-time and were about an hour late.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...000Z/EGCC/KPHL

any ideas why they might have done that? other TATL flights took a slightly northerly routing but nothing even close to this one.

SJC AA

Perhaps some equipment required for ETOPS was inoperable.

phlwookie

As SJC AA noted there could have been a maintenance issue. It could have also been an ATC request, as that flight operates at more or less prime time westbound across the Atlantic, though that wouldn't be common.

Transatlantic commercial flights (mostly) follow the North Atlantic Tracks. The westbound current ones are here:
http://www.turbulenceforecast.com/at...und_tracks.php

The map up there now is newer than the one current when your flight departed MAN, but many of the tracks are farther north than usual, and the NAT A track that is current as I write this is only slightly south of what your flight flew.

The eastbound tracks are here:
http://www.turbulenceforecast.com/at...und_tracks.php

Generally, when there is significant variance between the east and west routes, there are strong winds across the ocean. Eastbound flights usually benefit, westbounds take a time penalty with the headwinds - or detour well north or south to minimize such delays. The North Atlantic winter winds tend to be far higher than the summer, with PHL-MAN/LHR flights sometimes being as much as an hour shorter with a strong tailwind, and we're getting closer to that time of year.

JDiver

Most likely winds aloft.

More on the North Atlantic tracks for avgeeks here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Tracks

diburning

It was strong headwinds. One of Delta's AMS-ATL flights stopped in BOS for fuel. (Aircraft was a 767-400) I'd imagine that your flight took that route to avoid some of these winds.

arlflyer

Gah, my slow brain was thinking MHT the first time I read this. That woulda been an unusual routing indeed!