Although Epsilon uses a great deal of sarcasm in his response - you would be surprised though how much time and effort airlines put into reducing fuel costs (its a matter of economical life or death). Just to give you one example. A UK based schedule carrier does the following on their Airbus fleet, they make the a/c think (prgram it) that its in certain atmospheric conditions (incl altimeter settings etc) when its really not at all- these programmed settings allow for a more fuel efficient take off burn, this can only be done if runway lenghth allows it. They carry a lap top in the flight deck which calculates all this for 'm, so they can program the a/c with most efficient settings.
Also, think about weight and balance - the way you load an a/c; this will affect its angle in flight , hence affecting its drag, hence more fuel burn.
Trust me anything that reduce fuel costs will be most appreciated, and usd/usg prices rising and rising.............
