
Turbulence is many travelers’ worst nightmare–especially if you haven’t had enough pre-flight drinks at the airport bar before boarding! And while it unfortunately is a common thing experienced by many flights, a new report from Turbli, which publishes data on airplane turbulence, has found that some routes experience it more than others.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, turbulence is “air movement that normally cannot be seen and often occurs unexpectedly. It can be created by many different conditions, including atmospheric pressure, jet streams, air around mountains, cold or warm weather fronts or thunderstorms.”
And while Sky News writes that turbulence is incredibly unlikely to cause a crash, it can be dangerous by causing passengers who aren’t wearing their seat belts to be thrown from their seats without warning. So you’ll want to keep your seat belt fastened at all times if you find yourself on any of the following flights, which are the top 10 most turbulent flight routes in the U.S.:
1. Albuquerque (ABQ) – Denver (DEN)
2. Denver (DEN) – Jackson (JAC)
3. Jackson (JAC) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
4. Denver (DEN) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
5. Bozeman (BZN) – Denver (DEN)
6. Ontario (ONT) – San Diego (SAN)
7. Boise (BOI) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
8. Bozeman (BZN) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
9. Las Vegas (LAS) – Reno (RNO)
10. Las Vegas (LAS) – Salt Lake City (SLC)
Thankfully, none of these routes involve NYC, so if you’re looking to book a trip to one of 2025’s must-visit destinations, we have a feeling you’ll be able to enjoy a nice, smooth flight (just be sure you have this travel authorization if you’re flying to the UK or this one if you’re flying to Europe!)
To find the most turbulent flight routes, Turbli uses turbulence forecast data from the NOAA and the UK Met Office. Every 6 hours, Turbli looks at a snapshot of the most recent forecast worldwide over 18 pressure levels, and at the end of each month it combines them to derive monthly and finally yearly statistics. The ranking includes about 550 of the largest airports in the world
Moreover, using this date Turbli also found that, despite the chaotic nature of turbulence, there’s a clear seasonal change in turbulence due to seasonal changes in wind, which is what triggers turbulence. For example, jet streams get stronger during winter, which causes more turbulence than in other seasons.