A commercial airliner can weigh anywhere from 100,000 pounds to over a million pounds. It is astonishing how such gargantuan weight can not only take off from the ground, but also routinely fly long ...

Here's what that means for turbulence. Every flier waits to hear those magic words after takeoff: “We have reached cruising altitude; you’re now free to move about the cabin.” But what is cruising ...