Spinoff of spinoff: shortest flight you’ve taken

[bcla]

Victoria to Vancouver BC. Victoria is on a island so it is faster than taking the ferry, and sometimes cheaper. Flight is about 15-20 minutes in the air.

A couple of years ago I was waiting from the ferry from Sidney, BC to Anacortes, WA. We had reservations but decided to get there early anyways because of the customs pre-check. The planes taking off were going right over our head, and they were almost all turboprops.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

San Francisco to Oakland. Spent the whole flight banking as take-off from SF was to the west and landing at Oakland was to the west, also. Not sure they still do that one, however.

I think it was like a 15 minute flight.

 

[bcla]

San Francisco to Oakland. Spent the whole flight banking as take-off from SF was to the west and landing at Oakland was to the west, also. Not sure they still do that one, however.

I think it was like a 15 minute flight.

Not sure how they would do it, but I think the commercial runway at Oakland is almost north-south, so they would spend a lot of relative time just trying to line up. It wouldn't be like most flights. I've flown into SFO from Seattle, and I remember some long approaches where coming in from the south just to line up with the runway.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Not sure how they would do it, but I think the commercial runway at Oakland is almost north-south, so they would spend a lot of relative time just trying to line up. It wouldn't be like most flights. I've flown into SFO from Seattle, and I remember some long approaches where coming in from the south just to line up with the runway.

Well, it was a loooooong time ago (maybe 50 years ago), things have probably changed at both airports since then.

 

[design_mom]

I flew from Cincinnati, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio. That is one of two times I've ever been "upgraded" to first class* (and for a 20 minute flight!) It was the last segment of a longer flight... or else I would have never flown that short of a distance.

*I've never paid to fly first class. I've been "upgraded" twice. The Cincinnati/Columbus flight I mentioned above, which was too short to enjoy. It was also at the end of a 24 hour travel journey with a baby, so I was exhausted. The other time was when the airline royaly screwed up our tickets and we had to strong arm them to fix it. They finally ended up putting us in first class (because there were no regular seats left) but I was so angry at the whole situation that I couldn't enjoy that either.

 

[bcla]

Well, it was a loooooong time ago (maybe 50 years ago), things have probably changed at both airports since then.

A few things have changed, but the runway configurations (save maybe some lengthening) have been the same at SFO and OAK for at least 60 years. They're having serious problems at SFO whenever there's bad weather because of the spacing, and part of it is that they can't change it without some way to mitigate the loss of part of the Bay.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

A few things have changed, but the runway configurations (save maybe some lengthening) have been the same at SFO and OAK for at least 60 years. They're having serious problems at SFO whenever there's bad weather because of the spacing, and part of it is that they can't change it without some way to mitigate the loss of part of the Bay.

All I can really remember about it was we were leaning in our seats for the whole flight. Made it real difficult to hand out drinks on that flight, but the attendants certainly tried. Maybe it wasn't "true" west we were headed but we seemed to land in the same direction we took off.

 

[bcla]

All I can really remember about it was we were leaning in our seats for the whole flight. Made it real difficult to hand out drinks on that flight, but the attendants certainly tried. Maybe it wasn't "true" west we were headed but we seemed to land in the same direction we took off.

I'm an aircraft geek, and I used to be fascinated with maps. I remember having local maps and looking over the runway layouts on road maps. The direction of the main runway in Oakland is actually more south southeast to north northwest. Sounds like you were going south southeast, turning around and landing north northwest. It was always a fun little trip from what I'd heard. But as you noted it's almost all turning in one direction.

Over 30 years ago I saw some news fluff-piece story on that flight on ABC News. I thought it featured some part-time actress who had a full-time job as a United flight attendant. They were talking about it being the shortest scheduled jet flight in the world. I distinctly remember it was also in the Guinness Book of World Records under that category.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Once, I flew from Flagstaff to Phoenix because apparently my manager doesn't own a globe...


Ron White

 

[Kitty 34]

Flint to Detroit Metro

 

[earfulofmagic]

Hmmm. Orlando to Atlanta, Atlanta to Orlando? Same with Portland->Seattle and back. Both were just about an hour (or under, in case of PDX->SEA).

That's only in recent memory, though. If I've taken shorter flights as result of layover or hops, I really can't remember.

 

[kmb584]

My local airport (Scranton/Wilkes Barre) to Philly. Just about 25 minutes from wheels up to wheels down.

 

[xjillianpaige]

NYC to Boston. Maybe a 45 minute flight?

I had been on a plane for hours though. Tel Aviv > Zurich > New York > Boston

 

[dotfurio]

Bakersfield to LAX. I think it was 30 min or so. I don't even think they offer that one anymore.

 

[MamaLema]

Cuenca Ecuador to
Quito Ecuador
Less than 1 hour

 

[mjmgsssp]

Back when I was a "road warrior" and on a plane every week, Cincinnati used to be the most expensive airport to fly out of in the country. I used to fly out of Dayton, back to Cincinnati, and connect to my final destination. That crazy flight was about 15 minutes from takeoff to landing and cost an average of about $400 less than if I had flown directly out of Cincinnati!

 

[aprilgail]

NY to Boston

 

[bcla]

Back when I was a "road warrior" and on a plane every week, Cincinnati used to be the most expensive airport to fly out of in the country. I used to fly out of Dayton, back to Cincinnati, and connect to my final destination. That crazy flight was about 15 minutes from takeoff to landing and cost an average of about $400 less than if I had flown directly out of Cincinnati!

Ever heard of the "hidden city" trick? It's where it may be cheaper to fly from A to C through B than just A to B. So people would book that, make sure that they didn't check in any baggage, and exit the plane when they arrived at the "hidden city". It did create problems though. If there was a change a rebooking might go through another city or might even be nonstop - because the ticket is really meant for travel to the endpoints. The airlines not only hated it because they felt it was lost revenue, but because it messed with headcounts and because they were worried that someone exiting a plane might have "suspicious" baggage left on board.

 

[monorailsilver]

Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket

 

[xjillianpaige]

Wait. I amend mine.

Reykjavik, Iceland to Akureyri, Iceland. Maybe 30 minutes? I joked with my travel buddy that the plane just needed enough oomph to hop over some mountains and the wheels stayed down the whole time.