Do planes move faster in the trade winds?

Question

Trade winds run from east to west. My question is that if my plane were to fly from Alaska to Japan, would my plane be faster due to the trade winds or something else.

And is there a jet stream that flys from the East Pacific Ocean to the West side of the Pacific Ocean?

Answer 1

Yes. Winds everywhere afftect flight times. For example, Toronto-London 7 hours. The other way, 8 hours. Same with flights everywhere, but on long flights, especially trans-Pacific flights, the time can be very great.

Answer 2

Much faster, I travel frequently between the US and Asia and the difference can be huge because of the jetstream. During  certain times of the year the flight can take 15.5 hrs. to Hong Kong and as little as 10.5-11 hrs. back. If you look at the flight statistics on the Airshow channel when you're flying, sometimes a 747 can reach speeds of around 700 MPH with a good tailwind. The jetstream does flow from west to east across the Pacific, here's some pretty good info about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_stream