Originally Posted by
421dog
Hmm. Most of the guys I know who have formation cards have 1) fully stalled an airplane, 2)know how to do a chandelle and a lazy eight, and 3) can land something with a tail wheel.
I really wouldn’t trust most of the regional jet jocks who learned to “fly” in a cirrus and did a commercial in something that was “complex” by virtue of a glass panel to do the job...
(flame on)
Autopilot would be doing the flying anyway.
I think this is far easier to implement than replacing Jet A1 with biofuel.
Of course there's plenty of people saying it's all too hard, but the fact is 99%+ of cruise flight is a non-event and could easily manage this. Hit bad turbulence or there's an operational issue? Ok fine break out of formation, it's not the end of the world you'll just burn use fuel you would have burned anyway.
If these cost savings are as high as implied then there is a huge low-hanging fruit for airlines to work together here.