GE Aviation Study Shows Millions In Savings For Airlines,
Reduced Flight Time For Travelers
Airlines could save at least $65.6 million annually while
slashing carbon emissions and cutting flight times by implementing
new flight paths at 46 mid-size airports across the U.S., according
to study results released Tuesday by GE Aviation. The findings of
the study, Highways in the Sky, come at a critical time in
the debate on the future of our aging national air traffic control
infrastructure, where additional investment is increasingly
measured against proven benefits to the economy, environment and
the everyday traveler. Steve Fulton, technical fellow with GE
Aviation highlighted the results today at the NextGen Ahead Air
Transportation Modernization conference in Washington, DC.
GE’s Highways in the Sky study illustrates the
potential for significant economic and environmental benefit of
near-term deployment of Required Navigation Performance (RNP)
landing approaches. Although the study focused on 46 mid-sized U.S.
airports, the data and analysis supports accelerated deployment of
RNP at any airport. GE’s study of the 46 airports concludes
that deployment of RNP instrument arrivals would annually save:
- 12.9 million gallons of jet fuel, or 527 round-trip flights
from New York to Los Angeles.
- $65.6 million, a savings equivalent to the full-time salary of
1,573 middle-class jobs.
- 274.6 million pounds of C02, equal to the carbon absorbed every
year by 1,384,095 trees.
- 747 days of flight time, or roughly two years and seventeen
days in the sky.
“We are facing a serious global challenge as air traffic
increases and our skies become more and more congested,” said
Lorraine Bolsinger, President and CEO of GE Aviation Systems.
“This is an opportunity to provide tangible benefits to every
stakeholder; responsible growth of an essential industry, better
asset utilization, lower fuel burn and cost for airlines, greater
throughput for airports and ANSPs, fewer delays for passengers,
lower emissions and noise for communities and reduced dependence on
foreign oil.”
RNP technology allows aircraft to fly precisely-defined
trajectories without relying on outdated, ground-based
radio-navigation signals. Independence from a fixed, ground based
infrastructure, linked with the inherent precision of satellite
navigation and advanced computer technology aboard the aircraft
allow the creation of shorter, more consistent and more efficient
flight paths. The consistency and efficiency of the new flight
paths can reduce flight delays helping to alleviate costly air
traffic congestion. ICAO, the International Civil Aviation
Organization, has predicted that efficiencies made possible by RNP
alone can cut global CO2 emissions by 13 million metric tons per
year.
“There is no reason the U.S. aviation industry should be
tied to a ground-based beacon system that was developed in the
1940s,” said Captain Brian Will, Director -- Airspace
Modernization and Advanced Technologies for American Airlines.
“GE Aviation’s Highways in the Sky study clearly
demonstrates the tremendous benefits realized through
satellite-based navigation. RNAV and RNP provide benefits to all
airspace users. For controllers and pilots, we have safety benefits
from reduced radio transmissions and reduced controller workload
and increased pilot situational awareness. For the airport
communities, RNAV and RNP can reduce both noise and emissions
– this is a win-win-win scenario, everyone
benefits.”
Underscoring the importance of realizing these benefits, the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s annual aviation
forecast predicts that domestic air travel will double in the next
20 years, reaching the 1 billion passenger mark in the U.S. alone
by 2021. In addition, the total cost of all U.S. air transportation
delays is estimated at $32.9 billion by the National Center of
Excellence for Aviation Operations Research.
In many locations around the world, RNP is already demonstrating
significant benefits. In Brisbane, Australia, government sponsored
trials demonstrated that RNP instrument approach procedures saved
aircraft operators 882,000 pounds of jet fuel a year, even though
only 18 percent of the aircraft were capable of flying the
procedures. Based on those results, Airservices Australia is
implementing RNP at 28 airports nationwide which it expects will
save operators nearly 86 million pounds of jet fuel each year.
GE Aviation’s PBN Services’ analysis projected the
benefits of RNP deployment at 46 U.S. airports that either have
existing published RNP procedures or a significant number of
arrivals of RNP-capable aircraft. A total of six models of aircraft
for 12 national airlines were included in the study.
An average time savings of three minutes per flight was used to
derive the average operating benefit of an aircraft flying on an
RNP approach. Only direct aircraft operational savings were taken
into account, which includes savings due to reductions in fuel
(accounting for 41% of savings), maintenance costs and crew costs.
Calculations were made using 2009 fuel prices, which have since
risen significantly and can be extrapolated into further savings
today. Indirect operator costs, such as on-time performance and
diversions, are highly dependent on airlines and were not included
in analysis, making these figures highly conservative.