Estimate flight time from distance, cruise speed, wind and taxi time.
The jet stream can add or remove an hour on a transatlantic crossing, which is why eastbound flights are consistently shorter than westbound ones. Taxi and climb time is largely fixed regardless of distance. Because taxi time is fixed, short flights spend a much larger share of their duration not cruising, which is what makes them inefficient per kilometre.
Flight Time
Flight time = route distance ÷ (cruise speed + wind) + taxi, climb and descent time
Flight time = route distance ÷ (cruise speed + wind) + taxi, climb and descent time The jet stream can add or remove an hour on a transatlantic crossing, which is why eastbound flights are consistently shorter than westbound ones. Taxi and climb time is largely fixed regardless of distance.
Because taxi time is fixed, short flights spend a much larger share of their duration not cruising, which is what makes them inefficient per kilometre.
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Great-circle distance, Cruise speed, Tailwind, negative for headwind, Taxi, climb and descent time, Route factor above great circle. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.