Why Flying Against the Earth’s Rotation Doesn’t Speed ​​Up Flight, Here’s the Answer

JAKARTA – Many people mistakenly think that flying is against rotation Earth will speed up flight travel time. This assumption is based on a misunderstanding of how the Earth’s rotation and airplane motion work.

Imagine jumping on a trampoline at the Earth’s equator, where the rotation speed is about 1,670 km/h (1,037 miles/hour). Assume you can jump as high as 3 seconds.

No wind: When you jump, you move upward with a certain initial speed. Because the Earth is rotating, you are also moving west at a speed of 1,670 km/h.

However, this horizontal movement does not affect the height of your jump. You will rise and fall vertically, reaching the same height as if the Earth were not rotating.

With wind: Now, imagine that there is a strong wind blowing to the west at a speed of 1,670 km/h. This wind will add to your horizontal speed, so you will be pushed west when you jump.

This will make you fly further west during your jump, but will not affect the height you gain.

Planes fly in the Earth’s atmosphere, which rotates with it. As the plane flies west, it opposes the Earth’s rotation, but this effect is insignificant compared to the plane’s forward airspeed.

The forward airspeed of an airplane is what determines how fast it moves through the air, and this is what determines the flight time. The Earth’s rotation has only a slight effect on forward airspeed, and this effect can be ignored in flight time calculations.

Here’s another answer to why flying west doesn’t always take longer as reported by IFL Science: