Why does the FAA not make any sense?

Question

Note: Gas Prices These Days...

Why does a plane from Cali to Russia fly EAST when a plane from New York going to Korea fly WEST?

Cali and Russia are RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER, minus the Pacific Ocean. With gas prices these days, it makes more logical sense for the Cali plane to fly WEST!. Now that I think about it, I don't understand a LOT of the flight patterns that planes take...

Answer 1

There are a number of factors that go into planning flight patterns, including distance to a destination.

You failed to mention where in Russia, but as most of the population center is in the western portion of the country, it makes more sense for the planes from (I'm assuming you mean) California (and not Cali, Columbia) to take the polar route.  The would actually go northeast, in which case the polar route is the shortest route.  Another consideration is prevailing winds - it takes less fuel to fly with the wind than against it.

The key is to remember that while maps are flat, the world is round.  When maps are flattened in the (most common) Mercator projection, there is a good deal of distortion that takes place, which can make some distances look a lot farther than they actually are.  I would expect that if you use a globe and a piece of string to look at distances you'll find a number of the routes that don't look as short when flat look a lot better that way.

Good luck!