Why do airlines fly from west to east?

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Y2K

Strange. I went to Singapore from LAX through Taiwan which is East to West. Maybe my pilot had his compass upside down.

Seriously, there are 2 ways to travel (E-W and W-E) and probably you took a flight that goes through Europe. Look for more options. I know Singapore Airlines flies LAX-Singapore-Sydney which is an East-West route.

Techwing

Airliners fly from west to east when it's part of their route. They don't do it if they don't have to.

Airliners try to fly the shortest possible route from departure to arrival, and in the case of Los Angeles-Sydney, this is across the Pacific Ocean. However, airliners also have to take into account traffic patterns and prevailing winds aloft, and some airliners have restrictions on how far away from land they can fly when flying over water. All of these can change the routing so that it isn't necessarily the shortest possible route between airports.

Some aircraft also just do not have the range for certain direct flights, and a direct flight from LAX to Sydney is 7488 miles, almost all of it over water. Few aircraft can manage this. Those that cannot must stop for fuel along the way, which may require significant detours.

ashleychauntel

Airplanes don't only fly West to East. Or my boyfriend wouldn't have just flow from New Jersey to Japan by crossing Canada and Russia.

Gerald J

It must be the airline you're going to be flying on, most flights to Sydney from LAX do travel across the Pacific straight to Sydney. Check out the Qantas map, click on Los Angeles and you'll see that Qantas flies east to west to Sydney from LA.
http://www.qantas.com.au/content/dyn/routemaps/int/index

Christine

All airlines don't fly from west to east so they don't crash. If I fly from NYC to LA, I don't go around the globe. They take the shortest route. But the route is often determined by the tail wind which is why it can take 14 hours to fly from LAX to Seoul, but only 12 hours coming back.

iansand9876

You mean all those times I have flown direct from Sydney to LAX and back across the Pacific I could have had stopovers in Yurrup? Why wasn't I told?

The premise in the question is incorrect. Planes fly across the Pacific in both directions. And it only takes 14 hours (+/-) Perhaps you need a better travel agent.

Earl s

who told you that ? ain't true

Neil

If they're flying from LAX to Sydney, they don't fly over Europe.

BigSis

I live in Asia - regularly fly east to west and west to east. It makes no difference.

I think someone's been having a laugh at your expense if they've told you this!

John

So if you want to go from Boston to LA, you have to fly over Asia to do so? =]

wildsurf09

Because if all the planes are going in the same direction then it lessens the chance of two planes crashing into each other. Think about it if they all go west then there would be no head on collisions. So basically, it's for safety. BTW I'm just guessing.

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