Originally Posted by
FFMilesJunkie
This winter is supposed to be a strong "el nino" winter here in the US. That means the jet stream splits into 2 strong jets. Both these jet streams head right up to the favored East/West Atlantic flying corridors. I don't know if they are taking that into consideration with this winter's schedules, but it's a possibility.
Indeed, El Nino might have affect travel times, although there is no such thing as a 'typical' El Nino (particularly since "we" only have detailed information for a relatively few number of them). Also, I don't know if the aviation weather people incorporate such information into their seasonal forecasts; it may well be the airlines playing it safe to avoid compensation/higher fuel usage.