DL41 distance and great-circle path
DL41 covers 12,061 km, or 7,494 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-haul flight, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 25 by distance.
The plane leaves Los Angeles heading south-west. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the LAX-SYD route appears on a tracker map.
Why DL41 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 14.8 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 813 km/h. An Airbus A350-900 cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Flying west, this route pushes against the wind. The trip back east is usually shorter, even though the distance is the same. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.
Can the Airbus A350-900 comfortably fly DL41?
Not really. It uses about 80% of the Airbus A350-900's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Airbus A350-900.
What to know about DL41
- Time change: you land 18 hours ahead of the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.
- Crosses the equator: you swap seasons between takeoff and landing.
- Crosses the date line: the calendar date changes while you are in the air.