Jet Streams
Scarbagjack. Your question regarding the aircraft "getting away" is fair enough for a non-airman to ask. The short answer is No. The speed the aircraft knows is Airspeed. The speed over the surface at any normal cruise speed, e.g. Mach .84 typically in a B747, is governed by the winds at whatever level the aircraft is being flown. The speed over the surface "with the wind" will be the normal cruise speed plus the wind speed. The opposite is the case flying into the wind. Pilots and/or their on-board navigation system will determine the most appropriate Top of Descent (TOD) point so as to minimise fuel usage and meet any ATC requirement. In my RAAF days we used to occasionally conduct minimum fuel descents, which were more designed for fighters arriving back to base with low fuel states, in the C130 whereby we would home to overhead the airfield and essentially spiral down at flight idle. In my experience the use of speed brakes on descent is more the exception than the rule, not least of all because of passenger considerations. The same "speed brakes" are used in conjunction with ailerons to provide better roll capability in cruise where on many aircraft the outboard ailerons are "locked out" when flaps are up. Keep flying, it's the only way to go.