Go Where the Weather Isn't (cont'd)

The previous post discussed the merits of planning one's route to go where the weather is not. This is such a self-evidently Good Idea that it seems even the airlines do it!

This week we had as a house-guest for a few days a young lady from Europe. On Tuesday she was headed on to Seattle and we took her to KDCA for her flight, Alaska Airlines Flight 3. Our young friend expressed the hope that her flight would not experience much turbulence. I was aware that the middle of the country was enjoying a day of very energetic and unpleasant weather, so I was minimally reassuring.

Alaska Airlines' Dispatcher for Flight 3 was contemplating the same weather system, and this (courtesy of FlightAware.com) is the solution that he or she came up with:

Pretty slick. A good example of the shortest distance between two points not being a straight line (or, in this case, a great circle course). And it's equally true for a Skylane or a 737-800. Of course, we get the fun of being our own Dispatcher.

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