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There are a great variety of commercial aircraft, so flying speeds differ. Most commercial passenger jet airliners cruise at about 480 - 560 miles per hour. The cruise speed for each aircraft may vary, depending upon the power setting the crew elects to use. If the aircraft is running late, the crew could use a higher power setting, resulting in a faster cruise speed, but would burn more fuel. The higher fuel burn would result in less profit for the airline. Airlines like profit and tend to fly at moderate speeds that conserve fuel. Within the United States, aircraft flying below 10,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL) are restricted by federal regulations not to exceed 250 knots. The slower speed limit permits more time for pilots to see and avoid other aircraft, since many small aircraft operating below 10,000 feet do not participate in air traffic control (ATC). Aircraft operating below 10,000 feet are generally not required to have an operating transponder or altitude encoder, which sends aircraft position and altitude information to ATC RADAR.

Some high speed , long range passenger jets such as Boeing's 747SP can exceed 600 miles per hour! - There are also many smaller commuter aircraft that fly at varying speeds from 240 - 350 miles per hour. The Concorde, no longer in use, could exceed the speed of sound in cruise flight. U.S. regulations prohibit flight in excess of the speed of sound over the U.S. due to the noise of the "sonic boom" created by the aircraft. Researchers are exploring ways to reduce the sonic boom generated by aircraft, and they are testing new engines that may permit future aircraft to operate at many times the speed of sound. Future aircraft may take-off like and airplane, enter a low earth orbit like a spacecraft, then re-enter the atmosphere and land on the other side of the earth, less than two hours later.

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Q: How fast does a commercial airplane fly?
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