An Airbus A330 passenger aircraft for Virgin Atlantic at JFK International Airport in New York. A different Virgin Atlantic flight hit high speeds due to a supercharged jet stream. (Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images)

By Matthew Cappucci

When Virgin Atlantic Flight 10 took off from New York’s JFK International Airport this week, it was running 1 hour 13 minutes late. But within 23 minutes of takeoff, it was careening over the Atlantic at 803 mph — and still got to London’s Heathrow Airport on time. The reason? Fierce jet stream winds supercharging its speed.

The jet stream is like a river of west-to-east winds in the upper atmosphere. Airplanes use it like a highway. If flights are heading eastbound across the Atlantic, they surf the jet stream, usually shaving an hour or more off thei

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