Too Hot to Fly? Climate Change May Take a Toll on Air Travel<br />But even though bigger planes weren’t affected, Mr. Feinstein said, American decided to give passengers on any flight to or from Phoenix between 3 p.m.<br />and 6 p.m. — the hottest part of the day — the option to change their trips.<br />Jet stream patterns influence flight routes, travel time<br />and airline fuel economy because long-distance air corridors are designed to take maximum advantage of prevailing weather patterns, which give a tailwind to eastbound flights and a headwind to westbound ones.<br />The study examined conditions at four airports: La Guardia; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which also<br />has relatively shorter runways; Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport; and Denver International Airport.<br />He said a stronger jet stream resulted in less stable air, so turbulence could become more<br />likely even if there are no storms, something that is known as “clear air” turbulence.<br />Dr. Williams pointed out that from Jan. 8 to Jan. 12, 2015, a strong jet stream forced some flights from Europe to the United States to make unscheduled<br />refueling stops on the East Coast before reaching their final destinations, even though they should have had enough fuel to make it all the way.<br />Because there is so little data available and so many factors at play — aircraft design, airport size<br />and location, the weight of passengers and cargo, to name just a few — it can be hard to attribute any one service disruption to global warming.
