Is a 747 That Much Faster With Headwinds Then a 767-400?
 

I will soon be traveling from Frankfurt to Houston so I was checking the flight times today.

The LH440 made the trip in 10hrs 49 minutes
The CO 47 (767-4) schedule to make the trip in 11hrs 36 minutes.

They both departed at a reasonable time from their scheduled departure. All of the above is per FlightAware.

Could the 747 be that much faster in headwinds then a two engine 767-4?

Boeing 767 has slower airspeed than Boeing 747
 

Boeing 767 has slower airspeed than Boenig 747 period. Head winds just makes the times diverge more. A 767 will be slower than a 747 in tailwinds too.

Difference is big. The 744 cruises at M.85; the 767 cruises at M.80. :eek:

I knew a 762 pilot would joke that a 747 would leave LAX for JFK after him and he would see it pass them. 762 has to fly lower altitude longer to burn gas on that trip too.

Is it headwinds, specifically, or just that the absolute divergence, in general, is longer the longer the trip length?

Both.
Time of travel depends on speed and distance. Longer distance means longer time as does slower speed.
Head winds have the effect of reducing speed with respect to ground.

At M.85 and M.8, a trip that takes 10:00/10:38 hrs means the planes are 0:38 or 6.3% apart.

With a M.2 headwind, really big but not unheard of, the flights could take 13:05/14:10 hrs and are 1:05 and 8.3% apart.

Real differences are smaller but that's the idea.

(All theoretical, of course)

10h38m is about 6.3% longer than 10h

Yes of course, obviously.

Sorry - I meant longer trip, in time, regardless of whether distance or headwinds were the factor.

You'd singled out headwinds, when it is both, hence my question.

At 35,000 feet that's about a 30-35mph difference.

Ack, I was trying to round 6.25 to 2 digits and took off the wrong end...

Corrected.

Oh Ok. I get you now.