IN order to study the practicability of reliable cross-country commercial jet transport operation, a series of simulated jet flights are in progress. Flights for these hypothetical airplanes are handled by regular United Air Lines dispatchers and are subject to the same delays, traffic restrictions, and holding as other real aircraft in the area.
This paper presents results of the first year of this study and answers questions about such items as: variations in cruising altitude to avoid unfavorable winds, special routing because of jet streams, fuel reserve policy, reliability of schedules, and adequacy of present-day weather reporting.