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(AFNS) -- To reduce reliance on military specification products, simplify the fuel supply chain and save money, Air Force Petroleum Agency researchers will conduct demonstrations to use commercially available jet fuel instead of military standard JP-8 fuel. The demonstrations of Jet A fuel versus JP-8 fuel will occur at Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; McChord AFB, Wash.; and Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Reserve Station, Minn. Each base has C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III or C-130 Hercules primary-assigned aircraft. According to Master Sgt. Danny Walker, AFPA Jet A initiative program manager, each base will begin issuing Jet A...

Announces Latest Missteps In Never-Ending Race To Bottom Of CSI Rankings Attention, US Airways: it appears you have some serious competition for the title of Stingiest Major US Carrier. Starting next month, United Airlines will stop handing out free pretzels and cookies to coach fliers across North America... and will even drop free meal service in business class on most flights. "In the wake of high fuel prices and a challenging economic environment, we must continue to examine every aspect of our business and find new ways to improve our day-to-day operations through efficiencies that still meet our customers' expectations,"...

No more free lunch. United Airlines Drops Free Snacks In Coach And So Much More... The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that United Airlines will no longer offer free snacks in coach starting September 2nd. They are also dropping complimentary meals in business class except for "premium transcontinental flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York." Shockingly, this move coincides with the airlines' expansion of their "buy-on-board" food offerings, says the Chronicle. The adjustments are outlined in an internal United Airlines memo that was distributed to flight attendants Monday and obtained by The Chronicle. The changes are all...

PHOENIX - With the price of oil holding above $110 a barrel, everything from wood chips to chicken fat is being scrutinized as an alternative to traditional fuel. But when it comes to airplanes, finding the right mix poses a special challenge. "When you're in an airplane, you don't want your fuel to start solidifying," said Robert Dunn, a Department of Agriculture chemical engineer who is studying biodiesel jet fuel. The airline industry is aggressively pushing for homegrown alternatives to petroleum-based jet fuel, while leaning on customers with a variety of new travel charges to help control a projected $61...

LAX: Air India's departure is part of a slate of expected cuts. Air India will withdraw its three weekly round-trip flights from Los Angeles International Airport in September, signaling a trend that finds more overseas carriers cutting service amid record-high fuel prices. Tuesday's announcement comes as international air carriers are expected to slash 213 weekly takeoffs and landings at LAX by November, an 11 percent drop compared to the same period last year. As a result, 33,452 fewer seats will be available to airline passengers each week by late fall, an 8.4 percent drop from last year, according to data...

Airline Company Flight Plans by: Rachel Paulk, August 11, 2008 Facing an energy crisis at home and punitive new regulations abroad, some of the largest airline companies are banding together to face the problems these trends engender. The leaders of three top aviation fuel management companies—Flight Sciences International, Sabena Flight Academy, and BMB Fuel Consulting Services—held a press conference Thursday, August 07, 2008, to announce their merger and the subsequent creation of Flight Sciences Global Partners. Michael Miller, President of Miller Air Group in Orlando, Fl, stated that “The airline industry is facing the toughest challenge since 9/11, with fuel...

LOS ANGELES (August 7, 2008) – Rentech, Inc. (AMEX:RTK) today announced that the Company has successfully produced synthetic fuels at its Product Demonstration Unit (PDU) in Commerce City, Colorado. Rentech’s PDU is the only synthetic fuels facility in the United States today producing transportation fuels. The facility is designed to produce approximately 420 gallons per day of synthetic jet and diesel fuels and demonstrates the successful design, construction and operation of a fully-integrated synthetic fuels facility utilizing the Rentech Process. D. Hunt Ramsbottom, President and CEO of Rentech, said “The initial production run of ultra clean synthetic fuels at our...

Despite the pessimistic headlines on energy, a beneficial long-term trend is underway called decarbonization. In his 2005 book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, writer James Howard Kunstler declared that when peak oil hits, “We will have to downscale every activity of everyday life, from farming, to schooling, to retail trade….Epidemic disease and faltering agriculture will synergize with energy scarcities to send nations reeling.” Nobel Prize winner Al Gore has said that global warming will likely result in “a string of terrible catastrophes.” And in his Academy Award–winning movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” he implies that...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hundreds of grounded planes. Thousands of lost jobs. Nearly two dozen price hikes. Record oil prices have battered the airline industry, and Wednesday the airlines called on Congress to act. In an open letter to all airline customers, CEOs from 12 of the nation's airlines said lawmakers must curb excessive speculation to scale back record fuel costs. "Normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation," the letter said. "The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem." The airline industry said that Congress' previously established...

When Air Canada [AC.A-T] fills up a new Boeing 777 in Toronto with jet fuel for a one-way flight to London's Heathrow Airport, it now costs $68,948. While the airline is stronger than many rivals, that kind of sticker shock underscores why global carriers are finding it hard to avoid red ink, even with the introduction of hefty fuel surcharges. Monday, the industry itself forecast at least $2.3-billion (U.S.) in combined losses this year. The International Air Transport Association's (IATA) dim projection is based on a conservative average oil price this year of $106.50 a barrel. The airline sector's 2008...

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. Scroll down for more ... U.S. airlines are introducing slower cruising speeds on both domestic flights and long-haul...

Sasol’s synthetic jet fuel is derived from four synthetic streams: Iso-paraffinic kerosene, Heavy naptha kerosene, Light distillate #1 and Naptha #2. Sasol’s synthetic jet fuel, produced by its proprietary Coal to Liquids (CTL) process, has received approval for full, unblended use in international commercial aviation. Sasol’s fully synthetic jet fuel (FSJF) is the first such fuel to be approved. For the past nine years, Sasol has supplied a semi-synthetic jet fuel—a mixture of CTL components with petroleum-derived kerosene—to international airlines operating from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Based on the success of the alternative fuel blend and following...

Carbon Footprint of the MLA by: Malcolm A. Kline, January 25, 2008 This may not be like the Nazis fighting the Soviets but it is a tad like trial lawyers going after HMOs, where you hope that both sides lose. At least one academic, University of Minnesota at Twin Cities associate professor Mark Fedelty, has concluded that travel to academic conferences contributes to global warming. “However, it is true that air travel puts large amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, soot, and even water vapor directly into the atmosphere, all of which makes an inordinate and unsustainable contribution to global...

Researchers at Penn State University are investigating several coal-to-liquid processes that differ from traditional direct (Bergius) and indirect (Fischer-Tropsch) liquefaction. The new pathways could introduce coal-derived chemicals or coal into existing oil refinery operations for the production of end products including jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, heating oil and carbon anodes. The primary focus of the work, which is funded by the Department of Energy, is the development of a coal-based replacement for conventional jet fuel. The coal-to-jet fuel work is in the pilot-plant stage, but along with the jet fuel, the processes produce other hydrocarbon products. For every eight barrels...

Michael Waltrip's crew chief and team director were thrown out of the Daytona 500 and suspended indefinitely Wednesday because an illegal substance was found during inspection for the season-opening race. Waltrip, docked 100 points, will be allowed to participate in Thursday's races that determine the field for NASCAR's biggest event of the year. David Hyder, his crew chief, was thrown out of the garage and fined $100,000. Team director Bobby Kennedy also was kicked out. NASCAR officials would not reveal what they found in Waltrip's intake manifold, but a person with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press it...

The Air Force is scheduled Tuesday to test a new jet fuel made from coal instead of oil. A B-52 bomber at Edwards Air Force Base in California is expected to take off with two of its eight jet engines burning a 50-50 blend of synthetic and oil-based fuel. Research on the fuel project has been conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. The goal is to develop, test and pave the way to commercialize the fuel. The research is focused on the Fischer-Tropsch process for producing synthetic kerosene from coal. The military wants a fuel that works with...

When an F-16 lights up its afterburners, it consumes nearly 28 gallons of fuel per minute. No wonder, then, that the Air Force uses more than half of all the fuel the U.S. government consumes each year. The Air Force may not be in any danger of suffering inconveniences from scarce or expensive fuel, but it has begun looking alternative fuels for its jets. While the military has been a leader in adopting some technologies, any effort to hit a miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency rating has taken a back seat when the mission is to haul bombs farther and faster or...

Air Zimbabwe grounded for lack of fuel By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 23/11/2005) Zimbabwe's state airline grounded its entire fleet yesterday after running out of aviation fuel. For the first time in its 25-year history, Air Zimbabwe cancelled flights to every destination. All seven of its aircraft sat on the apron at Harare airport "until further notice". Hundreds of angry passengers thronged the check-in desks at Harare, although some flights did resume after more than 24 hours on the ground. "The board would like to sincerely apologise to all its valued customers for the inconveniences," said Jonathan Kadzura, the...

American Airlines plans to cancel 15 daily round-trip domestic flights from its two largest hub airports because of the skyrocketing price of jet fuel, the No. 1 U.S. air carrier said on Friday.

Airlines already crumbling under crude oil prices face another eye-popping expense: the record cost of turning crude into jet fuel. Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita idled much of the Gulf of Mexico's refining capacity, most U.S. airlines have been paying an extra premium to refine or "crack" the oil into kerosene-like jet fuel. In July, before the storms, airlines paid the equivalent of $11 per barrel of crude on top of the spot price to keep planes aloft. Now the "crack spread" has spiked to nearly $59, meaning it costs nearly as much to refine jet fuel as it does...