by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:20 AM ET, Tue February 20, 2024
Several transatlantic flights heading to destinations in Europe this past weekend hit supersonic speeds as the Atlantic jet stream grew in strength, pushing them to fly near or above 800 mph.
According to The Independent, a Virgin Atlantic flight heading from Washington to London reached nearly 800 mph, which is faster than the speed of sound, which is 767 mph. Another passenger jet heading from Newark Airport to Lisbon, Portugal, reached 835 mph, pushed along by the intense jet stream.
By comparison, the typical flight speed for a transatlantic commercial aircraft is around 550 mph at cruising altitude, though that speed is variable depending on a lot of factors, including the current weather.
The Atlantic jet stream is a fast, narrow current of air that travels west to east and circles the globe, usually at speeds of around 110 mph. While transatlantic flights fly the Atlantic jet stream to shave off some time flying as they’re aided by the wind, this time, some flights reported shaving off a whole hour of flight time.
The National Weather Service of the Washington/Baltimore area posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the Atlantic jet stream had reached 265 mph, which dramatically increased the speed at which the planes were flying.
While the planes were traveling faster than the speed of sound, they didn’t actually break the sound barrier, as they weren’t physically flying faster themselves, but had the wind to propel them.
The strengthening Atlantic jet stream is largely attributed to the frigid northern air and warmer southern air colliding, something that typically happens more often during the winter months, but has strengthened this year especially, attributed to the presence of El Niño and the changing climate.
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