How many more miles are traveled on an airplane between two destinations versus a straight arc.?

Question

Due to changes in altitude, turning to/from the airport, routings that are not directly point to point, etc. On example is JFK-LAX: 2475 statue miles point to point. What are the actual miles flown? Of course, feel free to use any example.

Obviously each flight will be slightly different. Just looking for an example.

Answer 1

Every situation is different. The distance actually flown would depend on the very things you are mentioning. Others would include the need to fly into the wind when taking off (which might not be the main direction the plane needs to take to its destination), circling in a holding pattern over airports if the traffic is too congested for an immediate landing, "dogleg" flight paths taken so the plane can always stay in contact with flight beacons, etc.

Answer 2

Lioke you said, each flight will be different. However, just as a basic, non-specific example...

An aircraft departs a runway, climbs to 5,000 then makes a turn on course. The departure runway may or may not be close to the intended direction of travel, as taeoffs are done into the wind and not necessarily towards your destination. This may add a few miles.

Enroute navigation is not normally "direct." Usually it is a point-to-point type of navigation from radio sations or "fixes" that are predetermined. They do a pretty good job and this normally does not add a huge amount of distance to the route, perhaps just a few miles.

On arrival (again depending on the wind because like takeoffs, landings are accomplished into the wind) the aircraft will need to align itself with the landing runway. This is accomplished by a traffic pattern where arriving aircraft are put into a sequence parallel to the runway but opposite. This is called a downwind (because at this point the wind is at your back). Aircraft fly a rectangular pattern in from there and intercept the final approach course anywhere from about 5-20 miles away from the runway threshold.

All these factors together can add a significant amount of distance to the trip length, perhaps up to 50 miles or so. But normally there are ways to shorten it up a little. These extra distances are also accounted for in the timne of arrival, so don't worry about being late because you need to fly a traffic pattern. Also, 50 miles doesnt take very long at jet aircraft speeds.