Commercial Aviation
How Airlines & Manufacturers Are Defending Against The Rise Of Turbulence
Increasingly volatile weather, driven largely by climate change, is leading to a rise in turbulence incidents around the world. Airlines and aircraft makers are rising to the challenge, implementing design innovations and procedural upgrades to keep operations smooth and safe. In this evolving landscape, minimizing turbulence isn’t just about comfort – it’s also essential for safety, scheduling, and passenger confidence.
Turbulence won’t necessarily cause an aircraft to crash, but it does pose a safety risk to those onboard, such as passengers not belted into their seats who can be thrown into the ceiling or overhead bins. This can cause serious injuries and has even led to death in the past, while cabin crew are also subject to the same risks. Serious turbulence can also cause damage an an aircraft’s interior, and lead to costly medical diversions.
How Turbulence Is Changing Today
Climate models and observational data suggest that clear-air turbulence along jet streams is on the rise, leading to unexpected rough patches even when skies look clear. Clear-air turbulence is not associated with other adverse weather conditions, hence the name. It’s difficult to detect and often strikes unexpectedly. This trend poses a growing hazard, particularly as long-haul and high-altitude flights traverse polar and mid-latitude corridors.
Mountainous terrain also contributes significantly to turbulence patterns. As air masses pass over steep ranges, mountain waves form and extend for hundreds of miles downwind, creating rapid vertical air oscillations that can jostle aircraft, especially near peaks or ridgelines. This is often noticeable in areas like the Rocky Mountains in the United States, the Himalayas in South/East Asia, and the Andes Mountains in Western South America.
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is a region near the equator where winds from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres collide and create instability, turbulence, and adverse weather like thunderstorms and cyclones. The mid-Atlantic and the Bay of Bengal are located in this region and also host busy air routes. In 2024, a Boeing 777 experienced severe turbulence over the Bay of Bengal, with one passenger passing away due to a suspected heart attack and over 100 being injured.
How To Recognize Turbulence
Pilots rely on a blend of planning tools and in-flight observations to anticipate turbulence, and route briefings, turbulence charts, and pilot reports help identify risky airspace before entering. ATC advisories and ride reports from preceding aircraft also alert crews to potential disturbances. While this isn’t infallible, flight crews can and do use these tools to avoid most hazardous conditions.
Although turbulence can be unpredictable, several signs indicate the presence of turbulence ahead. The Bold Method, a website specializing in general aviation information, lists eight key signs of turbulence. Some of these are visible to pilots, such as clouds with jagged or rolling edges. Rapid changes in wind direction and speed also cause turbulence, and frontal passages often bring bumpy air with them.
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Bold Method’s Eight Signs Of Turbulence |
Summary |
|---|---|
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Mountain waves |
Air currents travel over mountain tops and then travel down, causing the air currents to oscillate between altitudes and cause turbulence |
|
Convective waves |
On hot days, convective currents move upwards while downward currents travel more slowly, causing turbulence at low altitudes |
|
Rapidly changing wind speed and direction |
A winds aloft chart indicates how rapidly winds are changing in speed and direction near airports at various altitudes. Dramatic changes indicate turbulence and possible windshear |
|
PIREPs |
Ride reports are transmitted by pilots on ATC frequencies, and controllers can also relay this information to other pilots |
|
Strong surface winds with nearby obstructions |
Nearby obstructions disrupt airflow at low altitudes, and this causes turbulence when winds are strong |
|
Frontal passage |
Warm air rising, an unstable frontal surface, or abrupt wing changes between warm and cold air masses create frontal turbulence |
|
Temperature inversion |
Temperature inversions often cause turbulence at the boundary between the inversion layer and the surrounding atmosphere |
|
Jagged clouds with rolling edges |
Clouds that aren’t a smooth, solid shape often host turbulent conditions |
While Bold Method listed these tools as measures to help general aviation pilots avoid rough rides, these conditions are also analyzed by airline pilots and flight dispatchers to help steer clear of hazardous weather. As weather detection technology improves, a flight crew’s ability to avoid turbulence also improves. Likewise, as the world’s climate changes, meteorological innovations become as important as ever.
How Manufacturers Are Addressing Turbulence
Although turbulence is increasing globally, manufacturers like Airbus and 
In addition to technology, modern airliners with carbon-composite wings tend to have more wingflex compared to prior generations of airliners. Aircraft with highly flexible wings, like the 787, absorb more force onto the wings and less on the fuselage, reducing how much force passengers feel. This is most prevalent with the 787, as its wings are designed to bend upwards by up to 17 feet (5.2 meters) in normal operations.
One aspect of aircraft design is wing loading, and this also contributes to how an aircraft handles turbulence. Essentially, the weight of the plane compared to the size of the wing contributed to how high or low the plane’s wing loading is, and a higher wing loading figure results in a plane that handles turbulence better. However, this also results in higher fuel burn, so manufacturers are designing their wings to have a lower wing loading.
Airline Operations & Crew Procedures
Airlines are evolving their in-flight operations to better avoid turbulence, and dispatchers plan flight levels proactively based on turbulence forecasts, while pilots often adjust their cruising altitude to find smoother air if air traffic control permits. AIRMETs and SIGMETs alert dispatches and crews of areas where moderate or severe turbulence is forecasted, while routes are often adjusted in-flight to avoid turbulent areas.
Flight crews and cabin crews receive thorough training on how to respond to turbulence. For pilots, procedures primarily center around adjusting to turbulence penetration speed, which is slower than standard cruising speeds to reduce stress on the airframe. Autopilots on most jets are capable of effectively handling severe turbulence, while pilots of older planes wth rudimentary autopilots may elect to handfly in such conditions.
Some carriers, such as 
Route Specific Challenges
Certain air corridors naturally experience more turbulence than others. In North America, the Rockies generate significant mountain waves that come with turbulence, jostling many transcontinental US flights. This phenomenon can also be seen in the Eastern part of the US over the Appalachian Mountains, significantly impacting many flights in the Southeast. Elsewhere in the world, the Himalayas often greet overflying aircraft with severe turbulence as well.
The ITCZ is often a source of significant pain for pilots flying through it because, once again, it often brings heavy turbulence, but flights between Asia and Oceania, Europe to Southeast Asia, as well as Europe to South America, still have to pass through this region. These air corridors are also extremely busy, particularly when it comes to routes that pass over the Bay of Bengal.
While these regions experience more turbulence than most, this can sometimes work in an airline’s favor. As it’s known that moderate or heavy turbulence is likely, airlines can thoroughly prepare flight plans to avoid areas of anticipated bumps, and crews can anticipate when to turn on the seatbelt sign for the safety of passengers. When turbulence strikes here, it’s often expected, as opposed to when clear air turbulence occurs in other parts of the world.
Turbulence In The Future
As the world’s climate worsens and the skies become bumpier, methods to avoid turbulence advance. New technologies help predict where turbulence is most likely, while the understanding of where and why turbulence occurs continues to improve. Additionally, long-existing tools like PIREPs remain crucial in avoiding turbulence when it occurs and getting out of rough air.
While turbulence might not damage an aircraft on the outside, severe turbulence can cause objects to fly, overhead bins to open, and trolleys to be thrown out of galleys. This can cause significant damage to an aircraft’s interior, requiring expensive repairs and grounding the aircraft for hours at a minimum. There’s also the risk to passengers and crew, as, beyond those who aren’t buckled in, some passengers may already be up when the seatbelt sign is switched on and may not make it back to their seats.
Cabin crew are also at risk during turbulence, as they often have to move around the cabin to perform their duties even if the seatbelt sign is off. Pilots usually make a separate announcement to advise flight attendants to take their seats, but this can’t always be done swiftly, particularly if turbulence strikes during service. Ultimately, for passengers, the best way to ensure your safety during turbulence is to keep your seatbelt on whenever practical.