Flew LHR-JFK on Sunday on UA905 (777). Since I was listening to tower communications I heard and watched BA177 (a 747) take off about 3-4 planes in front of us, and I was thinking that they would definitely arrive in front of us at JFK and fill up immigration at T7.

However, when we arrived in JFK, we actually landed ahead of BA177 which surprised me. I always thought the 747 was the fastest passenger jet, but in this case we had definitely made it across the Atlantic faster. Although we were late out of the gate in London and there was a lot of taxiway congestion, maybe the UA pilots decided to fly faster than usual to make up time? Maybe we had a faster routing? Or maybe the 777 cruise speed is faster? Anyone know....


Adam