New flight routes can save airlines millions in fuel

Mumbai: New flight routes into and out of Houston based on navigation technology from a $42 billion US air-traffic modernization project will save airlines millions of dollars in fuel in one of the program’s first measurable results. Using satellite guidance adopted as part of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen project, airlines will cut fuel consumption by as much as 3 million gallons a year, which would reduce carbon emissions by 31,000 metric tons (68 million pounds), the agency said in a release.

The shorter flights are part of the US effort to accommodate more traffic at over-crowded airports and help them rebound quicker after weather-related delays. The fuel savings are among the first concrete improvements from NextGen, which uses GPS-based navigation and Internet-like communications with aircraft to make flying safer and more efficient. The project is being phased in through 2025.


“We are seeing an immediate effect,” said Andrew LeBovidge, a regional chief of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union. The new routes and procedures became operational May 29 and have been used most days since then, LeBovidge said. He works at FAA’s Houston Center, which guides flights in the southern half of Texas.
Read news in full 21/06/14 Alan Levin/Daily News & Analysis