>>712
I spent 5 years in the Civil Air Patrol (Master Srgt) I taught classes on aeronautics ranging from gliders to spacecraft to other cadets for 2 years and was scouted for Embry–Riddle Aeronautical Universit, which I had to abandon due to injuries that disqualify me for military commercial flight.
>>458
Long Haul argument.
The reason for this flight path is painfully obvious reasons.
1. Boeing 787 Dreamliner Max range 8200/mi 43000/Alt with 223,378 lbs fuel capacity 33,528 gal and a max take of weight of 502,500 lbs Cannot fly to Singapore - (8278.1 nautical miles away), since its maximum range is 8,200 nautical miles.
Even though it has enough fuel to make the trip it brings it below a threshold that is unacceptable for safety standards.
2. The route in red allows for more seats to be sold which means more $$, allows the airplane to travel safely along land in case of any mechanical issues, traveling over open water is risky ( See: Amelia Earhart)
Just because some thing is possible now, doesn't mean that we can or should abandon what has worked best for the aeronautical industry just for some thing that would only affect such a marginal minority of flight passengers. In other words this is how it is because it's the best way for it to be done, could it be more efficient in terms of speed for the individual passenger? Yes it could.
This is bound in physics, there are experiments that you can do your self with a friend to see the curvature of the earth.