From paper to dirt, airlines pare it all to save fuel

New Delhi: How much is the weight of a magazine? A few hundred grams.
But for domestic airlines that are bogged under rising fuel costs, the pages of an in-flight magazine that carry a wee bit extra gloss are a burden.
Also is the dirt on the exterior of the aircraft, which are now receiving additional scrubbing to get rid of the unwanted weight.
Fuel prices surged 29% year on year during the March quarter and 18% over the December quarter. Between April and June 1, they slid by a mere 4.5%.
So airlines are doing all sorts of things — making seats of lighter material, removing unnecessary ovens and chillers, washing the aircraft exterior frequently to get rid of dirt and even monitoring the quantity of paper in in-flight magazines - to make the aircraft lighter and, therefore, lower fuel costs.
Jet Airways, the country’s largest airline by passengers carried, has decided to use lighter seat material on both its international and domestic flights. Kingfisher Airlines says it has made some of its aircraft (acquired when it took over Deccan Aviation) lighter by as much as 100 kg by adopting smart weight reduction techniques.
“Keeping the aircraft exterior clean makes a difference, we wash aircraft more frequently so that the weight is reduced. Other measures such as using light-weight cutlery, removing extra chillers and ovens without affecting food service quality, carrying just enough water for actual passengers on a flight against stocking up as per number of seats — all these measures have been used to reduce fuel consumption,” a spokesperson said.
22/06/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jun 2011