b737-700 Cost Index

[Doctor Cruces]

Can anyone please tell me what cost index Southwest Airlines use on their 737-700 operation.

What effect does it have when this is varied?

thanks

Rgds

Doc C

[vikrant soni]

Doctor Cruces

i can not answer your first question but I hope I can help u with the second one.

basically " CI = cost of time/cost of fuel ".

so if an airline is facing considerably high charges of time ($/hr) ex. crew and operating costs, than the fuel charges, the cost index will be a higher value and hence will allow the FMC to calculate a low time flight profile by using higher speeds for different flight profiles.

Also if the cost of the fuel is considerably higher than the time costs, the CI will be a small number. That will allow the FMC to calculate the most fuel efficient flight profile regardless of the speed and range.

I hope that helped.

vicky

[oskrypuch]

CI used to fairly typically be set to 100 or so, in the good old days. Typical low to mid haul now tends to run 10 to 20.

Here is one major carrier's numbers ...

A319 13 Late: 33
A320 13 Late: 35
B733 15 Late: 36
B735 14 Late: 35
B757 16 Late: 41
B763 17 Late: 62
B777A 23 Late: 65
B777B 23 Late: 65
B744 27 Late: 74

* Orest

[Doctor Cruces]

Thanks guys, helpful stuff.

Doc C

[Rapid D]

At SWA our SOP is cost index 20 all the time. Too slow if you ask me, but engineer smart guys who made up the number didn't ask us. Descent speed is 261 but into a headwind, it gets down to 245 before adding power. Many of us just type in 280 and it flies a much better profile.

Sorry to anyone following us who has to take vectors for spacing.

[Ocampo]

At SWA our SOP is cost index 20 all the time. Too slow if you ask me

CI17 is used in a major Colombian operator, just for a specific type though.

[Checkboard]

My airline is down to cost index 8 now - gives 248kn descent.

You think you have to apologise!