Extremely Uncommon: The USA’s Domestic ‘Time Travel’ Flights In August

So-called ‘time travel’ flights, where you arrive before you leave, are always different. The interest might increase further if they’re domestic and involve short sectors. They can make run-of-the-mill services more exciting. They exist because the block or scheduled time is less than a time zone change.

Time travel in the US: a summary

The US and its territories have 711,000+ domestic non-stop scheduled passenger flights in August. Examining them using Cirium data suggests that only 660 – one in every 1,087 – meet the criteria for time travel. These flights are incredibly uncommon, which only makes them more intriguing.

The country’s non-stop domestic network comprises 3,650+ airport pairs. Of these, just 11 go back in time. They are shown below, with two maps provided to make them clearer. Yet, as regular readers of my work might appreciate, it’s not quite that straightforward. Some of the 11 airport pairs have flights that don’t travel time; it depends on the exact day and specific service.

A breakdown of the airport pairs

They are shown below in alphabetical order. Again, the following details only relate to passenger services in August in the stated direction, and not all of an airport pair’s services go back in time.

Particularly notable additions include Alaska Horizon between Boise and Pullman/Moscow, which resumes on August 16. The route started in COVID-19-hit 2022 and operated until May 2024.

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Then there’s Delta between Atlanta and Birmingham. As one of its flights leaves at 23:59 and arrives at 23:53, taxiing should mean it departs on one day and arrives the day before. Very good for such a short route!

The sole widebody and long entry is United between the US territory of Guam and Honolulu. As flights pass the international dateline, they arrive in Hawaii the day before they depart.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock