I was recently on a holiday charter from Izmir to Gatwick, aircraft was an A320. Shortly before departure the Captain announced that that we had a 40MPH headwind to contend with all the way home.
During the climbout phase Mrs Pc commented that we didn't seem to gaining height as quickly as she expected (about 2 minutes post VR) and I must admit that the same thought had crossed my mind.
While I appreciate that it is difficult if not impossible to gauge such matters from the cabin I wondered if there may be any factors that may have caused a slower than usual climb.
All I could think of was perhaps the high ambient temperature degrading performance or maybe the aircraft was heavy with additional fuel in anticipation of the forecast headwind?
Or maybe a thousand other reasons that will remain unknown except to the crew
