Faster Flight Routes for Summer Travel

Summer vacation can’t come soon enough. Fortunately, travelers flying domestically will be arriving at their destinations a bit faster, thanks to 169 shorter East Coast flight routes.

Designed to cut travel by 40,000 miles and 6,000 minutes annually, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the launch of more direct flight paths on May 1, just in time for peak getaway season.

While saving passengers time, the new routes also save on fuel – helping to cut down on air travel’s notoriously high carbon emissions – and prevent delays and cancellations by giving air traffic controllers more flexibility to redirect flights, especially when faced with bad weather. Further, “fewer converging points and more simple flows enhance safety,” the FAA said in their statement.

If your flight does end up getting delayed or cancelled, travel insurance can help. Don’t know where to start? AAA travel advisors make it a seamless part of the trip-planning process.

After more than seven years of development, the new and improved flight routes are a sign of some industry catchup, replacing legacy routes built when airplanes relied on ground-based radar, instead of GPS, which limited the way planes could travel.

The flight paths are great news for those traveling along the East Coast, as they are mainly operating on flights above 18,000 feet along the Atlantic Seaboard.

Still need to plan a summer vacation? It’s not too late! Schedule an appointment with a AAA travel advisor today.