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Surging Jet-Stream Winds Hinder U.S.-Bound Flights From Europe

Winter weather is putting a kink in air travel plans as the North Atlantic jet stream hits peak intensity.

Stronger westerly headwinds for U.S.-bound flights are stretching out travel times, forcing some planes to stop for refueling. Trips such as London to New York, a busy business route, are running almost eight hours -- 45 minutes longer than voyages in September.

Two Philadelphia-bound American Airlines flights, one from Brussels and the other from Amsterdam, had to touch down on Jan. 11 to refuel in Bangor, Maine, said Scott Ramsay, the carrier's managing director of its integrated operations center. The journey from Brussels took 9 hours and 16 minutes, about an hour more than three months earlier, according to industry data tracker FlightAware.

"You know you're going to be in trouble on the way back," Ramsay said. "You try to pick out ways that you can get around the headwind."

If you're headed in the opposite direction, you might catch one of the shortest flights on that route yet. A British Airways flight from New York to London earlier this week approached the speed of sound, buoyed by the jet stream, and the Boeing Co. 777-200 made the journey in just over 5 hours, according to FlightAware.