Delta vs. JetBlue: The bumpy ride

Delta vs. JetBlue: The bumpy ride?

Every summer I fly directly home from NYC to New Orleans. Depending on the price, I either take JetBlue out of JFK or Delta out of Laguardia. After yesterday, I don't think I'll ever travel Delta again. The flight there and back was incredibly turbulent. Both the entire flights were mild to severe bumps for over 3 hours. When we landed, I asked the flight attendant why it had been so bad and she said, "Well, you know, it's the summer. The heat and humidity. Yesterday it was so bad we couldn't even get up to serve beverages." This explanation baffled me. It's never this bumpy on a midsummer JetBlue flight. The Delta flights were on Airbus A319 and the JetBlue flights to New Orleans are A320. What makes the ride so different? Thanks guys, I had no idea it was entirely up to chance. Turbulence just makes everyone so panicky...I guess it's time to reevaluate how smoothly I expect the flight to go.

Aircraft - 8 Answers

Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :

1 :

It is erroneous to assume that one airline has more 'turbulent' flights than another. It was just happenstance that you had more bumpy weather on your Delta flight. Pilots don't enjoy flying through turbulence either, they will usually request clearance for another altitude, but sometimes it is denied due to various factors, and at other times, all reasonable altitudes for flight are experiencing bumpy weather. There are no inherent factors between an A319 and an A320 which would make one more 'bumpy' than the other.

2 :

The difference in rides is due almost entirely to chance; the airline has virtually no control over turbulence. Any airliner flying in a certain place at a certain time will experience turbulence equivalent to that of any other airliner in the same time and place. This being so, there's no reason to consider one airline "more turbulent" than another.

3 :

This has nothing to do with what airline you flew on. Had you taken a Jet Blue flight instead, you most likely would have had the same bumpy ride. It's pure coincidence that you haven't experienced this on your JetBlue flights. Frankly, I'm surprised, as it is frequently bumpy in the summer time. When I was an airline pilot, I flew countless numbers of flights where I couldn't let the passengers get out of their seat for the entire ride. There's very little a pilot can do when it comes to this. We can try to avoid the clouds and look for smoother air (by asking if anybody else has had a smoother ride at different altitudes), but that's about it. Not flying another airline again solely due to having a bumpy ride, experiencing a bad landing, etc is silly. It happens on every airline.

4 :

Delta has A319? If you ask me, i freaking love turbulanceeeeeee

5 :

You flew on a turbulent day.

6 :

Wow is our education system failing us this bad? you can't really believe one airline has more turbulence than another? weather is always changing, you can fly the same route several times a day and the weather will be different each trip.

7 :

Well its just a coincidence. It doesn't matter what airline or aircraft you are on if the route is bumpy then you will have turbulence. It all depends on the jetstreams going through the area and the weather patterns.

8 :

Turbulence is very hard to predict, there are times when it can be expected, but there is really no way to say "there will be turbulence right over there." It may be tough to believe, but two planes flying the exact same route at the same altitude just a few minutes apart from each other can have completely different experiences. I was flying in some degrading weather once, listening to the radio I'm hearing other pilots in larger planes than mine talking about the bumpy approach (extra weight makes the effects of turbulence less, a 319 and 320 are close enough it doesn't really factor into it) and I'm prepared for a rough ride down. I came through without anything more than slight to moderate turbulence. The guy behind me reported heavy turbulence... Its a matter of luck, and normally us pilots do our best to try to avoid the bad turbulence. Airline pilots try to avoid everything that resembles a bump. You didn't ride through three hours of turbulence because the pilots thought it was fun or wanted to. Its the weather and no one has came up with a way to control it yet...