American Airlines To Bump Up The Green On Paris-Miami Flight

An American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Thursday could pave the way for more eco-friendly flying.

American, based in Fort Worth, will use a Boeing 767-300 on Flight 63 to demonstrate several fuel conservation measures that it hopes will show how planes can use existing technology to cut carbon emissions.

“We’re really hoping with demonstrations like this to motivate the regulators,” said Brian Will, B777/737 program manager for American.

The airline received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Commission to fly an optimized route over the Atlantic and tailor its arrival into Miami to keep the plane higher than usual before descent.

Other fuel-saving initiatives will include single-engine taxiing and a continuous climb and descent instead of leveling off at 10,000, 15,000 and 24,000 feet.

American has already invested $350 million to $400 million to upgrade its fleet with GPS navigation and communication systems that enable more efficient flying, Will said.

“I think we are going to save several thousand pounds of fuel on this one flight,” he said.

And that could mean more cost savings for American, which spent $9 billion on jet fuel in 2008, if it is allowed more trans-Atlantic flights that use the new technology. The carrier has said it wants to save 120 million gallons of fuel and reduce carbon emissions by 2.5 billion pounds this year.

Flight 63 will use an optimized route determined by GPS, not a route predetermined by air traffic controllers. GPS lets controllers track a plane all the way across the Atlantic, even when it’s out of radar range, unlike the Air France plane that disappeared from radar last week. GPS would help maintain appropriate separation among planes.

Despite a recession-caused reduction in travel, the FAA is still pushing to modernize air traffic control to improve fuel efficiency and reduce environmental harm.

FAA official Victoria Cox recently told Congress that the current air traffic control system “is not performing adequately.” She said new technology, called NextGen, that the FAA and the airlines will test will meet future travel demand, cut delays and improve safety.

source : The Associated Press.