The drastic increase of fuel prices (which have already reached over $116 a barrel) is exerting more and more pressure on airlines, which are fighting against present costs and worrying price projections. Three years ago fuel became the biggest airline expense at the U.S., leaving labor costs behind. Cost cutting measures are urgently needed and even the smallest initiatives, which may seem irrelevant at first, are highly welcomed.
Airlines all over the world are somewhat anxious for good news from the aerospace industry: lighter, aerodynamically improved airplanes and greener, more fuel-efficient engines. Many of the improvements are possible today through a wider use of composite materials, the addition of non-structural fairings, winglets or upgrade kits for engines, to name a few. These modifications, already rolling out on new airplanes or as upgrades for existing ones, help boost efficiency by directly reducing fuel consumption and weight, reducing drag and increasing lift.
But some of the technology, including brand new airplane designs, is still under investigation, so it will take years until a significant ‘leap’ is provided. Replacements for some of the best-selling commercial airplanes (the next generation of the 737 and A320 families) are not expected before the middle of the next decade… at least. Airlines therefore feel forced to take smaller steps which, altogether, may lead to important short to medium term savings. If every cent more per gallon adds millions to the airlines’ fuel bills (according to the Air Transport Association of America, increasing the fuel gallon by cents adds $195 million to fuel costs annually), than the opposite is also true. Significant amounts of money may be saved by cutting some pennies worth of fuel on each flight. And that’s why airlines are coming up with precious ideas on how to achieve that…
One of the objectives consists of eliminating weight where possible, now. How? For instance, by: serving smaller meals or snacks instead of hot meals; using food ware and packaging made of lighter materials (like plastic or card instead of metal or glass); installing lighter seats; using meal carts weighing some pounds less; removing non-essential utilities, like telephones, wiring, power converters, redundant lighting; trimming the amount of paper onboard, from the passenger cabin (less newspapers and magazines) to the cockpit (where some extra pounds may be saved by installing an Electronic Flight Bag, or EFB, which replaces printed charts and checklists); dissuading passengers from checking more than one bag by charging higher fares (as does EasyJet, for instance); carrying less utility water and managing the amount of fuel on each flight more efficiently; developing and applying lighter coatings to aircraft (as tried a few years ago by Air Canada).
There are also other moves, not weight-related, through which reducing fuel consumption is possible. Those include: adjusting routes to make them more direct, by adopting shorter legs over water instead of longer ones over land, if possible; taxiing with only one engine instead of two; using low reverse thrust levels, after landing; tweaking the aircraft’s flight paths and attitudes (by slightly increasing cruise speed, for example, it is possible to lower the airplane’s nose and, consequently, reduce drag. This only makes sense, though, if fuel savings resulting from drag reduction exceed the consumption increase associated to higher speeds).
Still, one of the most important measures to compensate for fuel cost increases is fuel hedging, through which airlines make advance purchases of a given percentage of their (future) fuel needs at a fixed, predetermined price. This way they’re able to partially protect themselves against price increases. Of course, if prices go down and below the negotiated value (which is far from likely, at the time), airlines may actually come off penalized.
So, next time you fly try to dress lightly. Not only will your body’s skin breathe better, you’ll also be saving the airline a few gallons of fuel.
