Question on flight information

[Scottherdling]

I'm looking at booking a flight and when clicking on the flight this popup shows up.  What's that info mean?  This flight is never on time? And only on time half the time.  Makes me worry my flight will get canceled and I'll be having issues trying to get to Orlando with my family.  

 

[TheMiddleSeat]

Strictly looking at the numbers provided, yes, that's what it says.  What it doesn't say is how many flights are included in this history.  If this is a relatively new route or even just a new flight number that would skew the data.  Maybe there's only been a week or two of flights included in that number.  With winter storms messing up everything the data wouldn't mean much.  It's not data I put much consideration into, but I do see where it might be concerning.

--TheMiddleSeat

[dfwskier]

I've never had one turn sideways where I can look out the window opposite me and I can look straight down at the ground.

Why do they turn?

I would imagine there are several reasons 

1) They have to head towards their destinations which likely is not the direction they took off

2) Planes in motion create vortices in the air. All planes do this and getting off the "defined" path lets planes avoid the vortices. 

3) lanes are required to be separated from one another by a defined amount. Planes don't fly at exactly the same speed. So planes turn to get out of the way of planes around them.

Is it safe? Of course it is or it wouldn't happen  thousands of times a day. 

[DancingDavidE]

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@Quillen087 wrote:

Why do planes take sudden right & left turns after take off. Sometimes the plane seems to be almost sideways. How is this safe?

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It may seem like it is sideways but actually is probably only 25 degrees. 

Some of the urban airports like MDW or SNA the jet needs to get altitude before heading more generally on their way to the destination to clear out the approaches for all of the incoming aircraft. Since it is desirable for the landing aircraft to come in gently, the corresponding approach is that the departing aircraft need to get to altitude more quickly. 

If the airspace is busy they may need to corkscrew around to gain altitude before getting too far from the airport and heading in the needed direction.

[dfwskier]

Further, plane aerodynamics REQUIRE wings to dip when making a turn. Pilots use both the ailerons and rudder when turning. 

Planes could make flat turns using only the rudder, but no one does this because it increases

the aerodynamic  instability of a plane. Doing this at the wrong time could cause a plane to go into a spin and potentially crash

Using only the rudder turns the back of a plane. and you need both the back and wings to turn at the same time. Ailerons turn the wings - causing the plane to bank.

[5280Av8r]

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@Quillen087 wrote:

Why do planes take sudden right & left turns after take off. Sometimes the plane seems to be almost sideways. How is this safe?

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In addition to what others have said, it also helps for more congested airports to get planes to take off more quickly due to minimum separations. Airplane one will fly straight, next one will turn right and the next turn left. If they were to all fly the same direction after takeoff, fewer planes would be able to get in the air due to the minimum separation requirement. 

Sometimes there's obstacles like mountains or buildings that need more altitude in order to clear them.

More often than not it's because they might be taking off in the opposite direction of the destination airport because pilots don't choose their runway, they get assigned by air traffic control. 

Another reason could be noise abatement regulations to avoid planes flying over certain areas.

It's perfectly safe, generally the maximum bank angle is 30 degrees which can feel completely vertical, but it's not.

Andrew E

DEN Based | Aviation Enthusiast