intltravel90

What took so long on Sunday? https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flig...900Z/OMDB/KATL

bigsaabowski

Winds. The ground speed during the last 3 1/2 hours was under 400 knots.

TrojanTraveler

Thanks for the info. I'm taking this flight at the end of the month and noticed that as well. I'll be connecting in ATL on a heavy travel day, and I really don't want to get stuck there. I was delayed from JNB years ago due to a mechanical in DKR, missed the ATL connection, and as it was the day after Easter, there were no seats available for the rest of the day into any NY-area airport.

Babu

I was on this flight on Sunday. Apart from the winds, the captain told us they needed to reroute to avoid countries perceived as threatening to US security.

But I would assume this would be a permanent situation and not only that one day?

P.S. Delta did a great job of accommodating missed connections...very smooth and impressive.

TrojanTraveler

They have been avoiding Syrian and Iraqi airspace. Not sure about other countries.

13thandseven

Something interesting I just noticed... the OP's link is to the UK version of FlightAware which says DL7 is "On The Way!" Switch to the US version and all we get is a boring "En Route" status - see for yourself:

UK: https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flig...900Z/OMDB/KATL
US: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...900Z/OMDB/KATL

ChiefNWA

Combination of winds and a reroute. The flight use to fly just east of Baghdad then take a slight turn around Syria, atleast it did when I flew it in July. Ever since ISIL became a more imminent threat for the region, they ceased flights over the area. I believe the flight now flies over Saudi and Egypt then starts to head north from there into southern Europe, thus increasing the travel time.

lking

Was on DL 7 Thursday Nov 13, and Sunday Nov 16 (yes, this is true.)

On Nov 13, flight was 16 hours, on Sunday 17 hours. The additional hour on Sunday was due to headwinds, so be prepared for a longer than before flight on DL 7 due to the rerouting issue.

On Nov 13, Captain announced that we had to take a longer route therefore flight will be longer (no details of route). On Nov 16, Captain announced that we had to take a longer route, but was detailed: Fly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, up to Norway, Iceland then over and down to Atlanta.

So, based on our current world situation, I say plan on the DXB-ATL flight always taking at least 16 hours.

I also give kudos to Delta for rebooking all the Atlanta reconnecting flights missed. It was seamless.

davetravels

And, OF COURSE, everyone automatically got the additional miles for the longer routing . . . . .

right???

intltravel90

Thanks for the replies!

VegasJosh

maybe this question has been answered before here, and I fly a ton and never asked what maybe a very obvious question. The captain often times comes on and say our flight time from LAX-NRT is 12:34 minutes (hypothetical). How do they know this almost exactly? I assume winds change, arrival patterns ect. but they almost are always exactly right and right to the minute. Can someone please explain this to me? Thanks

TrojanTraveler

It was about 17 hours again yesterday.

raistlin

That's brutal! Why, if I might?

3Cforme

The routing info is very complete and the weather info pretty sophisticated. It's not the flying experience of Amerlia Earhart! Airspeeds are prescribed - there's somebody behind you.

One can get a big miss if wind direction changes significantly at the arrival airport and the direction of departures/approaches is reversed, an event sometimes called 'turning the airport around.'

thrust

Modern airliners have a Flight Management System (FMS), essentially a computer that integrates the aircraft's GPS and other navigational equipment (IRS/IRU). Delta includes historical and forecast wind and temperature data in their flight planning, and this information is input into the FMS along with the flight plan (route of flight) itself. The FMS computer can calculate timing, fuel burn, etc based on this info, easily to the minute. It will also update itself based on any real-world changes to wind, temp, route of flight, etc.

The critical piece to the whole puzzle, of course, is the little hamsters that power the system via running on their hamster wheels behind the cockpit. Those hamsters also control the chemtrail system, but that's a whole nother conversation.