Maybe a prof can enlighten me...

[sprocky_ger]

Yesterday I (pax) was heading back from STR to HAM. Heavily thunderstorms were reported over Germany which caused a delay in departure. When we finally took off we were climbing to FL230 only staying in the clouds. It was the bumpiest ride ever (had almost 100 flights in the past 15 years). Why didn't he go up any higher? On the way to STR a few days earlier I also experienced a pretty "low level" flight. I do remember FL 300+ on this route. Is this a/c related? Previously I rode in A320 series a/c while this time it was a B737-700.

Oh, just in case on of the crew (AB6660) is reading this: thanks for bringing me save back to ground :ok:

Thanks in advance!

[TopBunk]

I will offer a possible explanation.

STR to HAM is a short, domestic flight. By flying below FL245, you avoid 'Upper Airspace', and therefore can minimise additional delays.

The Upper Airspace will be required for aircraft flying longer routes, and with weather around to be avoided by those overflying aircraft, additional space will required to facilitate that weather deviation.

So, by staying lower down at FL230 in this case, you reduce the delays at the expense of probably using an extra 500 kgs of fuel.

The bumps would have been associated with the weather, but you can be sure that your flight crew would have avoided the worst of the weather and I'm sure your flight was at all times perfectly safe.

Hope that helps.

[sprocky_ger]

Thanks. Did not check the overall airborne time. But avoiding further delays may have been the reason. I thought we were faster this time.

The bumps would have been associated with the weather, but you can be sure that your flight crew would have avoided the worst of the weather and I'm sure your flight was at all times perfectly safe.

I never felt unsafe. Put me into a rollercoaster and I will feel unsafe. But never did in an aircraft - not when I experienced a go around upon a shaky approach into HAN in 2005 and also not when the C-160 crew announced a return to departure airport due to an a/c failure in 1999 (they told us they could not trim the a/c).

On a sidenote: You mentioned an extra 500kg of fuel burn. How much (roughly) would a B737-700 burn on this trip? I am just curious since my company paid about 140 EUR round trip and its hard for me to understand how they can make money out of it - even every seat was booked. :rolleyes: I know some seats are sold at higher costs but still. We never paid more than 200 EUR.