Originally Posted by
tomh009
The one time that I was diverted to ANC (sick co-pilot that time) I don't think we were much more than an hour late in spite of spending nearly an hour on the ground in ANC waiting for a new co-pilot. The 747s do have more speed in them if NW decides that it needs it (at the cost of extra fuel burn).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think its a simple matter of "Let's cruise faster and make up some time." On trans-oceanic crossings in particular, I got the impression that air traffic was all choreographed, including speeds and altitudes, and since they are not under radar control, adherance to designated speeds and self-reporting when arriving at checkpoints is what makes the system work. Maybe it's different now, but that's the gist of how I understood it worked in the 80's.
I would be curious to know if this 747-400 was able to land at Anchorage below maximum landing weight without dumping fuel? Ironically, he may have needed to dump fuel to get weight down to land, then take on more fuel to continue to Tokyo Narita.