Posted on 05/03/2008 6:36:57 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Airlines in the U.S. have ordered their pilots to slow down to reduce fuel consumption. They say the move will add minutes to journey times yet save millions in fuel costs.
The tactic will not be adopted by British airlines, however, although the price of jet fuel has risen by more than 70 per cent in the past year.
British Airways and Virgin said they have already introduced fuel-saving measures which they believe are more efficient than those adopted by the Americans.
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U.S. airlines are introducing slower cruising speeds on both domestic flights and long-haul routes to Britain and Europe
Insisting that reducing speed saves fuel in certain speed ranges, the U.S. operators are introducing slower cruising speeds on both domestic flights and long-haul routes to Britain and Europe.
Northwest Airlines, which is in merger talks with Delta to become the world's biggest carrier, said it saved 162 gallons of fuel on a Paris to Minneapolis flight this week when the pilot cut his average speed from 542mph to 532mph.
The speed reduction added eight minutes to the flight time but saved the airline nearly £300.
Northwest bosses calculate that by slowing down they will save £300,000 this year alone on the route between Los Angeles and Hawaii.
Another U.S. airline, Southwest, estimates it will save £21million this year by adding one to three minutes to each flight.
The budget airline jetBlue said it would save nearly £8million.
United Airlines recently installed flight-planning software - similar to that used by BA - that it believes will save £10million a year. BA's onflight-board software shows pilots the best altitude and speed to allow optimum use of fuel.
Experts said most passengers would not notice the slightly longer times. But a BA spokesman said: 'We don't believe a short-term, knee-jerk response like this is the answer.'
Virgin's Paul Charles added: "We believe our fuel-saving measures are better than the Americans."
Virgin is concentrating on reducing the weight of planes by using light carbon-fibre fittings.
"We will save many millions of pounds more with our weightwatchers programme than the Americans can save by slowing down," said Mr Charles.
American carriers are struggling with older, less efficient fleets than British companies, he added.
BA has also ordered its pilots to use only one engine while taxiing around airports. Both BA and Virgin also try to use 'continuous descent' when landing, so planes glide smoothly down.
The alternative is to descend in steps, a process which uses a lot of fuel but is sometimes essential at busy airports.
Bob Mann, a New York-based airline consultant, warned that reducing speed can increase maintenance which means aircraft spend less time in the air.
"Everyone is looking for that " sweet spot" when an airplane flies at the highest speed for maximum fuel economy," Mr Mann added yesterday.
I see you posted this article so you could add a thoughtful comment. To paraphrase your own post: Why even post, why not just insert inane comment. Bonus, less wasted time for fellow freepers.
A little humor. Always remember to go through life with a little humor.
They’d still manage to lose luggage.
Is there added labor time for making flights longer?
Is this what you mean?
10. (in medieval physiology) one of the four elemental fluids of the body, blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, regarded as determining, by their relative proportions, a person’s physical and mental constitution.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/humor
This scares me. I can understand and agree with the idea of adding 10 minutes to a flight to save fuel, but letting bean counters tell professional pilots how to land a plane has high risk of disaster. Pilots will be too busy looking at the fuel gage to pay attention to landing the plane safely.
I fly from Portland, Or to Houston via MSP every few weeks. I know when we are about 60-65 minutes away from landing when the engines are cut back and we start slowly descending. Descents used to start about 30 minutes out.
This was an interesting article.
If fuel priced keep increasing, we will slow way down, turboprops will make a comeback.
FAA can adjust airlanes and flight plans decreasing air miles.
FAA could allow varying altitude to take advantage of prevailing winds.
Lets all just drive 55, turn our thermostats down and wear sweaters.
Uh oh. Beware of the word "glide" when it comes to fuel-saving measures.
Naturally, health care costs for crew and passengers went up from the longer exposure to used, bacteria-laden air.
I think Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble tried this. Everything was fine until they looked down.
Already happening ATA and Bombardier are having record sales of Turboprops. They are making them bigger, faster and quieter....although still nothing like a jet.
Its not so much the time at altitude that causes the large fuel burns. Its the time in the traffic patterns at large airports which can begin 100 or 200 miles or more out as aircraft are sequenced for arrivals behind much slower or smaller capacity planes. Often you are slowed to a minimum speed just so you won’t overrun a slower turboprop or recip also due to arrive at the airport at the same time. The controllers do not want to set up holding patterns as that requires more paperwork reporting etc. Not to mention the extra work of monitoring the patterns and dealing with the aircraft that have fuel reserve problems. The airlines tried this kind of foolishness 20 years ago. It was a failure then too. Believe it or not, this is why you may sit on the ground in perfectly clear weather waiting for take off clearance to your destination city 1000 miles away. Sequencing!
Interesting. I don’t fly any particular routes regularly though I’ve logged somewhere near 70k miles this year already, but I have not noted “hour-out” descents.
Nothing to worry about, they are just starting to descend a little sooner to trade altitude for distance. It’s like letting off the gas in your car well before a stop light and letting the car slow its self.
Which is why there is now a proposed standard, ASHRAE 161P, for aircraft cabin ventilation.
A B-52 pilot told me that when he was running low on fuel he would leave the formation by accelerating to a higher altitude to stretch the range. Commerical flights, of course, are told what altitude they must use.
To really save fuel, don’t fly at all. Think of how many business people fly to meet face to face. With all the available technology for remote conferencing, it’s amazing how few businesses take advantage of it. Perhaps someday in the future we’ll ‘plug in’ to an avatar half way around the world and be wherever we need to be instantly.
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