SAEDNEWS: Travelers often wonder: if someone flies by plane against the Earth's rotation, should they reach their destination sooner than usual, since the destination is moving toward them?
According to Saed News, citing iTabnak, the Earth spins at an incredible speed. Intuitively, one might think that if a plane flies against the Earth’s rotation, it should reach its destination faster, since the destination seems to be moving toward the traveler.
However, this is not the case.
The Earth rotates eastward at approximately 1,180 km/h in mid-latitude regions, and if a plane flies westward toward a destination, it might seem that the destination is approaching the plane and the flight should be quicker. The short answer: it isn’t.
Even though the Earth spins at 1,670 km/h at the equator, everything on the surface—including the atmosphere—moves along with it. This means that a plane flying west is still moving within a system that is rotating eastward. In other words, while the destination is technically “rotating toward” the plane, the plane itself is also carried along by the Earth’s rotation, so it doesn’t arrive faster than expected.
For example, a plane flying east at 160 km/h along the equator effectively moves at 1,830 km/h relative to the ground (1,670 + 160). Flying west at the same speed reduces its ground-relative speed to 1,510 km/h (1,670 − 160). Thus, flying against the rotation only decreases or increases effective speed relative to the ground depending on direction, not in the way most people imagine.
This effect is most pronounced near the equator. Near the poles—about 10 km from the axis of rotation—westward movement closely aligns with the true west, but such situations are rare.
Flight times for the same route are often different because of these rotational effects, but they are also influenced by strong atmospheric wind currents. These winds are shaped by the Earth’s rotation and can significantly affect flight duration.
In short, the spinning Earth carries everything on and above it, including airplanes, so flying against its rotation does not magically shorten your travel time.
