Americian Airlines trying to cut fuel bills
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Americian Airlines trying to cut fuel bills
American operates more than 2,000 flights a day. A gallon of jet fuel weighs 6.7 pounds.
Since the airline no longer offers hot meals in its coach sections, it is removing the rear galley, or kitchen, including refrigerators and ovens. Replacing the rear galleys with six seats, the airline gains $34 million a year in revenue, Booth said.
The galley removal process, which has nearly been completed on American's 300 MD80 aircraft, is undertaken at American's Tulsa Maintenance & Engineering Center during periodic maintenance visits.
Other fuel-saving programs implemented in Tulsa include:
Replacement of high-drag tail cones with low-drag tail cones on older MD80s; 27 aircraft have been completed, 58 aircraft remain to be completed. Annual savings: $2.4 million.
Installation of fuel-saving winglets on 80 Boeing 737s and 124 Boeing 757s. The 737s will be completed by June, the 757s by August 2008, officials said. Annual savings: More than $10 million.
Installing electronic flight information systems or glass cockpit instrumentation in place of analog systems. The electronic systems enable aircraft to fly more direct routes to destination airports. Seventy-five aircraft have been completed for annual savings of $12.5 million.
Implementation of an engine water wash program that cleans compressor and turbine blades, which permits the engine to operate more efficiently. Annual savings: $3.8 million.
Removing seat phones, wiring and control boxes from 34 Airbus A300 aircraft for a weight savings of 80 pounds per aircraft. Annual savings: $1 million.
Removal of life vests on 50 aircraft that don't fly over water. Annual savings: $250,000.
Today, American pilots routinely taxi to and from boarding gates with one engine, instead of the two engines used in previous years.
In 2006, single-engine taxiing saved American $4 million.
"We burn 6 percent of our total fuel burn a year on the ground," Booth said. "Potentially, we could save $8 million a year."
In 2006, American's fuel consumption was 2.88 billion gallons, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier.
Since the airline no longer offers hot meals in its coach sections, it is removing the rear galley, or kitchen, including refrigerators and ovens. Replacing the rear galleys with six seats, the airline gains $34 million a year in revenue, Booth said.
The galley removal process, which has nearly been completed on American's 300 MD80 aircraft, is undertaken at American's Tulsa Maintenance & Engineering Center during periodic maintenance visits.
Other fuel-saving programs implemented in Tulsa include:
Replacement of high-drag tail cones with low-drag tail cones on older MD80s; 27 aircraft have been completed, 58 aircraft remain to be completed. Annual savings: $2.4 million.
Installation of fuel-saving winglets on 80 Boeing 737s and 124 Boeing 757s. The 737s will be completed by June, the 757s by August 2008, officials said. Annual savings: More than $10 million.
Installing electronic flight information systems or glass cockpit instrumentation in place of analog systems. The electronic systems enable aircraft to fly more direct routes to destination airports. Seventy-five aircraft have been completed for annual savings of $12.5 million.
Implementation of an engine water wash program that cleans compressor and turbine blades, which permits the engine to operate more efficiently. Annual savings: $3.8 million.
Removing seat phones, wiring and control boxes from 34 Airbus A300 aircraft for a weight savings of 80 pounds per aircraft. Annual savings: $1 million.
Removal of life vests on 50 aircraft that don't fly over water. Annual savings: $250,000.
Today, American pilots routinely taxi to and from boarding gates with one engine, instead of the two engines used in previous years.
In 2006, single-engine taxiing saved American $4 million.
"We burn 6 percent of our total fuel burn a year on the ground," Booth said. "Potentially, we could save $8 million a year."
In 2006, American's fuel consumption was 2.88 billion gallons, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier.
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Doing the math on the A300 phones:
$1M/34/80 = $367 in fuel to haul a pound for a year.
What am I missing?
30 years ago the budgetary number was $25/lb/yr.
This fuel saving program was covered on tv last year, (CNN?) and they showed AA mechs making the MD-80 beaver tail tail cones at something like $37K each, vs. $135K or so from Boeing.
GB
$1M/34/80 = $367 in fuel to haul a pound for a year.
What am I missing?
30 years ago the budgetary number was $25/lb/yr.
This fuel saving program was covered on tv last year, (CNN?) and they showed AA mechs making the MD-80 beaver tail tail cones at something like $37K each, vs. $135K or so from Boeing.
GB
The revenue will only be gained if the flight was :
1. Already full on the old seating arrangement.
2. All six additional seats are sold.
3. The 6 additional seats are sold at the average airline fare.
But as we know only a minority of flights get 100% load factors, and only a proportion of those have turned away 6 passengers who do not travel otherwise on the airline and are thus revenue actually lost to the company which could be gained with the extra seats.
There are a range of other caveats in the calculation, but I would be surprised if the revenue gain was even 10% of that claimed, which puts a completely different perspective on it.
Join Date: Jan 2006
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275-300 MD-80's x 365 days x avg flights per day per a/c(4?) = under $100 bucks a flight to come up with $34 million.
Looks like they're planning on about 1/6, or less, of all flights being full.
Looks like they're planning on about 1/6, or less, of all flights being full.
