What is the maximum flight level?

The maximum height that a commercial airplane is allowed to reach when they fly is 42,000 feet, as this is the universally approved maximum altitude. This max altitude for airplanes is known as the “service ceiling.” Most commercial air jets fly at such a high altitude because it is known to optimize efficiency.



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(aviation) a pressure altitude measured in terms of hundreds of feet above sea level (ie. flight level 120 (FL120) is 12,000 ft.

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Flight levels are then assigned a number which is the apparent altitude (pressure altitude) to the nearest thousand feet, divided by one hundred. Therefore an apparent altitude of 18,000 feet is referred to as Flight Level 180.

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This means the FAA has both authority and responsibility for airspace above FL600.

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The biggest reason for flying at higher altitudes lies in fuel efficiency. The thin air creates less drag on the aircraft, which means the plane can use less fuel in order to maintain speed. Less wind resistance, more power, less effort, so to speak.

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One of the answers said that anything above the transition altitude is referred to as a flight level. So suppose an aircraft is flying at 35,000ft, it is flight level 350.

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A series of Navy and Air Force programs in the 1950s and 1960s used pressure vessels or pressure suits to get balloonists higher, some to above 100,000 feet. Skydiver Nicholas Piantanida set an unofficial record—123,500 feet—in 1966, but a later attempt went awry when his helmet depressurized.

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Over the course of less than six minutes, the plane descended 18,000 feet, ultimately moving from flying at 30,000 feet to a level closer to 10,000 feet.

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Class A airspace is generally the airspace from 18,000 feet (~3.4 miles, 5.5 km) mean sea level (MSL) up to and including flight level (FL) 600 (~11.4 miles, 18.3 km), including the airspace overlying the waters within 12 nautical miles (NM) (~13.8 miles, 22.2 km) of the coast of the 48 contiguous states and Alaska.

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Similarly, the Boeing 777 family also maxes out at a ceiling of 43,100 ft (13,137 m).

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