Who chooses the Cost Index?
 

Just curious if the pilots get any say in the cost index to use on a particular flight?

I imagine companies have guide lines & set rules, but for example, if delayed, does the pilot have the 'right' to alter the cost index to go a bit faster & try and make the time up or will his hands be tied by the company?

In my company the policy is fixed; we use CI25 end of story! Not saying whether I agree with that or not but that's what they pay me to do!

Happy landings

3 Point

Designated on the dispatch release. Usually changed only when required (e.g., wind bust causes higher fuel burn).

Periodic evaluation is made of the two major variable costs for an aircraft's operation, i.e. Maintenance and Fuel price.

Projecting Maintenance cost is very predictable, whereas Fuel cost is a constantly varying 'wild card'.

In our company, Flight Operations make the decision. Usually, one constant CI is used globally reflecting average world-wide fuel prices. We have a few 'Sector Specific' CIs where schedule is tight with thru connections, where the commercial disadvantage of running late is balanced against operating costs. Also, if more than 15 min late, operating crew have 'carte blanche' to bump up the CI to a more 'high speed' profile.

Be wary in comparing the replies that you may get here topcat450, the 'numeric' value of CI varies greatly between aircraft, even from the same manufacturer, e.g. 40 for a B737 may be the equivalent of 90 on an A340, etc.

Regards,

Old Smokey

Just out of curiosity...does an airline use a standard CI or is each plane different? A few years ago I believe I was told BA uses a CI of 40 but perhaps that was just for one type of plane.

Cheers!

Since the scale (Max CI) is different between airplanes, it likely varies. I only know the 744.

At my company CI is selected by Flight Ops and is on the Flight Plan that we get. Generally for short sectors it is set to 40, but on long sectors it varies a lot between 20 and 80. We have the descretion in the flight deck to change it in flight ofcourse!

Our airlines (SU) don’t allow reduce CI. We can only increase to arrive by schedule.

They would rather you land below minimum fuel than adjust speed to reduce total burn?!? :eek:

My airline seem to operate a standard cost index of 90 on my fleet with occasional variations for operational requirements. That said, we enter CI 0 until top of climb then have a look at the arrival time before adjusting the CI. Generally we have free reign to adjust the CI to achieve an on time arrival or for other tactical reasons (such as getting a better level over Africa). People have also been known to increase the CI after disruption to save the company the cost of another ridiculous overtime payment to the cabin crew.