How high do planes fly?
Airliners usually cruise between about 30,000 and 42,000 feet. Business jets can go up to around 51,000 feet, regional turboprops fly in the 20,000s, small private planes are usually a few thousand feet up, and helicopters often fly below 1,500 feet.
Airliners: 30,000 to 42,000 feet
Jets like the 737, A320 and 787 cruise in the thin air above most of the weather, usually between about 30,000 and 42,000 feet. Thinner air means less drag, so the engines burn less fuel for the same speed. Some long-haul twins, like the 787-9 and the A350-900, are certified to about 43,000 feet.
The exact height depends on the flight. Short hops may never get above the mid-20,000s, because the plane would barely reach cruise before starting down. Long flights often climb in steps as they burn fuel and get lighter. Pilots call these heights flight levels: 35,000 feet is “flight level 350”. In the US, eastbound flights generally use odd thousands and westbound flights even ones, which keeps opposite-direction traffic apart.
Business jets: up to about 51,000 feet
Large business jets like the Bombardier Global and Gulfstream G650 are certified to 51,000 feet. Flying above the airliners keeps them out of the busiest airspace and can earn them a more direct route.
Turboprops: the 20,000s and below
Regional turboprops like the ATR 72 and Dash 8 top out around 25,000 feet. On short routes they often fly well below that. Pressurized single and twin turboprops like the Pilatus PC-12 and King Air can go higher, up to around 30,000 to 35,000 feet.
Small planes: a few thousand feet
Most light aircraft, like the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, cruise a few thousand feet up, low enough to see the ground and stay under the clouds. A Cessna 172 can technically climb to around 14,000 feet, but it isn’t pressurized, and in the US pilots must use supplemental oxygen if they spend more than 30 minutes above 12,500 feet. Weekend flyers rarely bother.
Helicopters: usually under 1,500 feet
Police, medical, news and tour helicopters often work below about 1,500 feet, and they’re allowed to go lower than airplanes when it’s safe. How low aircraft can legally fly. They can climb much higher, but their jobs are on the ground, so they stay close to it.
Military: from treetops to the edge of space
Military aircraft fill the whole range. Transports and helicopters train on low-level routes a few hundred feet up, while fighters can climb above 50,000 feet. The U-2 spy plane routinely flies above 70,000 feet, high enough that its pilots wear full pressure suits. The retired SR-71 Blackbird flew higher still.
How to judge altitude from the ground
- Contrails: a plane drawing a white trail is almost always above about 25,000 feet. Why contrails form only up high.
- Paint: if you can read the airline’s name or see the landing gear, it’s low, usually a few thousand feet, on its way into or out of an airport.
- Sound: a jet at cruise is a faint hiss or nothing at all, and the sound arrives from well behind where the plane actually is. If it’s loud and lines up with the plane, it’s low.
- Size: big planes look closer than they are. A wide-body jet at 3,000 feet can look as near as a small plane at 1,000.
The easy way is to check. Altitude on a live aircraft map is height above sea level, so if you live up in the mountains, the plane is that much closer to you.
