Air Distance vs Surface Distance

The cruising altitude of a jet airliner is about 33000-42000 ft or 10000-12800 m. It is very tiny compared to the radius of the Earth of 6378 km. Therefore, the distance measured at the cruising altitude does not differ much compared to the surface distance.

Some flat-Earthers claim that if Earth is a sphere, the distance traveled by a jet airliner would have been multiple times the surface distance. They are wrong. The air distance at 33000 ft is only 0.16% farther compared to the surface distance.