Why don’t airplanes fly much higher than 35-38k ft? - ClaimHelp - Was your flight delayed or cancelled? (2024)

FAQs

Why don’t airplanes fly much higher than 35-38k ft? - ClaimHelp - Was your flight delayed or cancelled? ›

Above that altitude, the pilots would be unable to control the plane in an emergency because they would have insufficient oxygen to breathe, even on pure oxygen. Why get up there in the first place? Efficiency. The same thin air that will kill you as a human makes for minimal drag for the plane.

That said, planes generally fly at higher altitudes — usually between 30,000 to 42,000 feet — because the air gets thinner the higher you go. When the air is thinner, planes can fly faster and more efficiently, using less fuel to maintain the speed required to develop lift.

Airplanes fly faster at higher altitudes because of density. As an airplane climbs and its altitude increases, it will be exposed to less dense air. The air becomes thinner and less dense at higher altitudes. Not only does this improve fuel efficiency; the less dense air allows airplanes to fly faster.

For one, flying at a higher altitude uses less fuel, as the air is thinner, creating less drag on the aircraft. Therefore, it is advantageous for long-haul commercial aircraft to fly high. For instance, commercial airliners like the Boeing 747 can cruise at altitudes of over 35,000 feet.

Airlines' contracts of carriage — the legal agreement a passenger accepts when they buy a ticket — say that passengers may not be allowed to fly if they appear “intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.” That means they could be kept from boarding or removed from a plane once on board.

“The plane door can be opened mid-flight, but it depends on the cabin pressure,” Danielle Keenan, flight attendant for JetBlue, tells Matador Network. “If we're cruising at 35,000 feet and the cabin pressure is at 8,000, it would be incredibly hard to open.”

This is a baseline for the minimum oxygen a pilot needs to function. At 40,000 feet, the air pressure is about 5 inHg. That means that if the pilot is breathing pure oxygen at this altitude, that person is still only getting 4 to 5 inHg of oxygen. As noted, this is the limit for pilot performance.

Flying higher does reduce drag due to thinner air, but there's a limit to how high commercial jets can go. Beyond about 40,000 feet, the diminishing air density poses challenges for conventional jet engines designed to operate efficiently at typical cruising altitudes.

The maximum height that a commercial airplane is allowed to reach when they fly is 42,000 feet, as this is the universally approved maximum altitude. This max altitude for airplanes is known as the “service ceiling.” Most commercial air jets fly at such a high altitude because it is known to optimize efficiency.

Aerodynamic altitude: If a commercial airliner flies too high, it will encounter less dense air passing over the wings to create lift. This can cause the plane to stall and fall out of control. Depending on the weather conditions and aircraft weight, this can occur anywhere between 40,000 and 45,000 feet.

Can you see a plane at 35,000 feet from the ground? ›

Yes, you can potentially see an aircraft at 40 to 60,000 feet. The problem is that without a contrail or something that makes the aircraft stand out, it will be a very small target and there's a reasonably good chance that you'll be looking in the wrong place.

Some business jets can soar up to 15,000 meters, while most military aircraft can fly at this altitude or even a little higher. However, these aircraft tend to stay below 15,000 feet for safety reasons, as the air can become too thin and make it impossible to burn aviation fuel continuously.

Essentially, the term “coffin corner” identifies the upper limits of an aircraft's operational envelope when flying at high altitudes (above 25,000 feet). These limits are also referred to as the aerodynamic ceiling and are where stall and overspeed meet.

The highest altitude a commercial jetliner can reach is approximately 45,000 feet, while corporate aircraft can fly slightly above 50,000 feet, but only if they are specifically designed for that purpose. Achieving an altitude of 60,000 feet would necessitate super-efficient engines and glider-like wings.

At a height of 35,000 feet, the pressure is approximately 20% that of sea level, and since oxygen is approximately 20% of air, a person at this altitude breathing pure oxygen will receive a sea level equivalent amount of oxygen.

white was the first pilot to fly any aircraft faster than mach 4, 5 and 6, as well as the first to fly above 200,000 and 300,000 feet. he set the only official world record of the X-15 program when he flew to 314,750 feet on July 17, 1962, a fédération aéronautique internationale altitude record that still stands.